Chuck Vs The Good, Normal and Wonderful Life
by ersk4
Summary: Chuck and Sarah have a wonderful marriage and daughter and live the normal life in a good house at a good island community. Or do they?
1. Must Be Heaven

CHUCK VS. THE GOOD & NORMAL & WONDERFUL LIFE

SUMMARY: Chuck and Sarah have a wonderful marriage and daughter and live the normal life in a good house at a good island community. Or do they?????

NOTE: OK, here's my story of Chuck and Sarah living a "normal" life. If you've read any of my other "Chuck" stories, you've probably noticed that they are mostly "fluff." In this story, I've tried to do fluff with suspense and some mystery. Did I succeed? Well, read on and let me know with a review.

**CHAPTER ONE – MUST BE HEAVEN**

"Must be heaven," Chuck Bartowski sighed as he sat up in bed and gazed at the sight he could see through the open doorway of the bathroom in the master bedroom. Sarah, beautiful, blonde, gorgeous Sarah, fresh from the shower, clad only in a towel, and blow drying her hair.

Sarah noticed Chuck watching her from their bed. She smiled at him and shook her head which caused her hair to fly out and then settle back around her head and face making Chuck ponder even more about her beauty and how lucky he was.

"Must be heaven," he repeated as he continued to gaze at his beautiful, blonde, gorgeous wife.

"Thank you," she responded, smiling back at Chuck while putting the blow dryer in the drawer. She then stood there, enjoying his staring and his attention. She let him have the view for a few moments and then moved toward the bed where she patted his leg.

"As much as I love you oogling me, you had better get up and get going. You're going to be late for work," she noted.

"Yeah, you're right," he replied as he got up and stretched. "But I was just thinking about how lucky I am."

Sarah looked inquiringly at him. Seeing that look, Chuck chuckled, moved toward her, put his arms around her and drew close. Gazing directly into her eyes, he told her.

"I am married to the most beautiful, wonderful, fantastic woman on the planet and am living with her in the nicest house, located in the nicest town where I work in a nice job. I don't know how it could be any better than this. But I also know that it wouldn't matter where I was or what I was doing or if I had a great job and a great house or a crappy job and a crappy house – it's all made wonderful being married to you. Getting married to you and being with you was the single most important and fantastic event in my life," he said. And then he leaned in and kissed her.

Sarah immediately clamped her arms around Chuck and passionately returned the kiss. After a few seconds, Chuck started to break away. But Sarah wouldn't have any of that as she held on to him and continued the kiss. Then she pushed him back down on the bed, tossed aside the towel that was wrapped around her body, got on the bed and straddled him. She quickly leaned her face down to his and continued their kissing. Then she stopped and gazed intensely at him.

"I think you ARE going to be late for work," Sarah said sexily as her hands reached down to remove his underwear.

XXXXXXXXXX

A while later, Chuck rushed into the kitchen while putting on his tie.

"Hi daddy!" a dark-haired, bright-eyed girl greeted Chuck from where she sat at the dining room table munching on cereal.

"Hey Sallie. How's our little girl?" Chuck replied warmly and rubbed one hand through her hair. He just got his tie on as Sarah handed him two sacks.

"Your lunch and some breakfast. You'll have to eat the breakfast along the way since we're running late and we have to rush. But I'm not complaining," she said while smiling at him.

Neither am I," Chuck replied as he returned her smile. He glanced at his watch. "If we can get going now, I may make it time," he said. Then he turned to their daughter. "OK Sallie, let's saddle up and ride!"

Sallie squealed and held up her arms to be carried. Chuck set the two bags on the table, grabbed his daughter, positioned her against him with his left arm and then grabbed the lunch bags. "All set here Mrs. Bartowski, what about you?"

"All set here too, Mr. Bartowski," Sarah said as she picked up her purse and indicated with her free hand that they should go.

They walked out the front door, locked it, stepped down the front porch steps, and strolled up to their car. Sarah punched the unlock button on her key chain. The car beeped and Chuck opened the back door and put Sallie into her car seat and secured her in as Sarah got in the car in the driver's seat. He then got in the front passenger seat, buckled up and Sarah, started the car, put it in reverse and they backed out of the driveway of their house, #6 McGoohan Drive.

Chuck gazed out of the window at the rows of houses with well kept and nice-looking lawns and gardens and the blue sky as he munched on the bagels that Sarah had packed for him to eat along the way. He marveled at the beauty, peace, and serenity of the whole town. Portmeirion Village, where they lived, an island community located just off the California coast, accessible from Los Angeles only by ferry and populated by about 1,000 people, was indeed beautiful. That was one reason he and Sarah moved here about five years ago, about a year after they got married. They wanted peace and quiet, they wanted a safe place to raise a family, they wanted nice neighborhoods, and they didn't want crowds.

And Portmeirion Village more than filled all that.

"Must be heaven," Chuck mused.

"What's that?" Sarah asked as she turned the car right at the next corner.

"Oh, I was just day dreaming and thinking about how beautiful and nice this town is and how lucky we are to live here and raise our daughter here."

Sarah looked thoughtful for a moment. "It is nice here. It sure beats the grime and crime and crowds of L.A., doesn't it? We are lucky."

"We sure are," Chuck agreed as he looked back at Sarah and once again, marveled at her beauty and how lucky he also was to be married to someone like her. About seven years ago, he had wandered over to get a snack at the new Orange Orange Yogurt shop which had opened up across the parking lot from where he worked at the BuyMore. Sarah was at the counter serving yogurt and he had been instantly smitten. From then on, he spent every break, every lunch, every spare minute he had visiting the Orange Orange, hoping to see her and getting to know her.

Sarah noticed his frequent visits and was always friendly and talkative with him. If the place happened to be empty during those times, she'd get a yogurt for herself after filling his order and then sit down with him at a table and talk. Sometimes she spotted him walking toward her shop from the BuyMore and by the time he walked through the door, she'd have his usual yogurt order with toppings all ready and waiting for him. Chuck enjoyed the visits with her at Orange Orange Yogurt and eagerly awaited them every work day. Sarah was beautiful, nice to talk to, fun to be with, and he frequently wondered about asking her out on a date. But her beauty also intimidated him. He was a member of the BuyMore Nerd Herd and she was … well … a smoking hot knockout, Chuck thought at the time. So every time he walked over to the Orange Orange determined that today would be the day he'd ask Sarah out, his insecurities and hesitations came out in full force and he didn't do any asking.

He also wondered a lot about whether or not Sarah would be interested in him romantically or if she just thought of him as a friend. There were times when things got so busy at the BuyMore that he was unable to visit the Orange Orange. On those days, Sarah appeared in the store, walked up to the Nerd Herd counter where Chuck was, handed him his usual yogurt order and visited with him while he ate.

Instances like that kept him thinking and hoping that she would be interested in going out with him. But it took him quite a while to work up the courage to ask her out on a date. "Well FINALLY," Sarah immediately replied after he did. "Do you know how long I've been waiting?"

They went out to dinner, hit it off, and were inseparable after that. Everything just seemed so right, so perfect for the two of them. And less than a year later, they married and had been for six years now. Sallie their daughter had been born three years ago. About a year after their wedding, Chuck had decided that he needed to move on from the BuyMore and go into something better. And Portmeirion Village had not only provided them with their new home but his new job.

He now worked at Fulcrumatic, a high tech firm that had the largest building on the island, 12 stories, and was also the community's main employer. If the employed residents of the island didn't work for Fulcrumatic, they more than likely worked at the stores that the island had like the one grocery store, convenience store, restaurants and various shops. The island, fortunately, as far as most residents were concerned, had not been overrun with retail development. If you wanted chain stores and shopping malls, you got in your car, drove to the ferry, headed over to the mainland to do that kind of thing. But why would anyone want to leave the island? Everything anyone wanted was right here on the island, Chuck thought.

After Chuck got the job managing the computer network and the computers at Fulcrumatic, they moved to the island, Sarah quit her job at the Orange Orange and decided to not work any more and stay at home, especially since they planned to have kids soon. Sallie, their daughter, had been born three years ago and Sarah took care of her, the house and anything else she could do. Chuck had asked her many times if she wanted to go back to work but Sarah always replied that she was happy with taking care of her family.

As Sarah pulled into the car into the Fulcrumatic parking lot, Chuck snapped out of his day dreaming and got his mind geared up for the work day ahead. Sarah brought the car to a halt near the walkway leading to the front door.

"OK, don't forget that I have my yoga and scrapbooking classes today. So I'll be out of the house for part of the morning and afternoon. You can reach me by cell. How late do you think you'll be working today?" Sarah asked as she put the car in park, undid her seat belt and leaned over, closer to Chuck.

"I'll probably be done at the regular time today, 5pm. Can you pick me up then?" he asked as he too leaned closer to her.

"Done," she responded and then leaned in for a kiss. Chuck responded eagerly.

"I love you!" he said after they finished the kiss. "Have a good day and see you when you pick me up."

"I love you too! And you have a good day too!" Sarah replied.

Chuck got out of the car and then opened the back passenger side door and leaned inside to kiss their daughter goodbye. "I love you Sallie! You be good, OK?"

"OK daddy! Bye! I love you!"

Chuck waved to his wife and daughter as the car pulled away and as he walked into the Fulcrumatic front door.

"Chuck!" Lois, the secretary/receptionist at the front counter hollered as he walked in.

Chuck strolled over to Lois' desk. "Good morning Lois," he said to the twentish, red-haired co-worker.

"Thank goodness you're here Chuck!" she immediately replied. "Miss Roberts has been calling every couple of minutes wondering where you are and wanting me to send you up to her office as soon as you arrive to fix her computer."

"OK, OK, I'm here and I'll take care of it Lois. Sorry that you got the brunt of all that," Chuck said and headed toward the elevator.

"And when you get done with that, if you have time, could you look at my computer? It's acting up," Lois asked.

Chuck stopped, turned around, and marched back to Lois's desk. He put his lunch bag down. "I'll take care of your computer first," he said and turned the monitor toward him, pulled the keyboard and mouse out and started typing.

"Chuck, you need to get upstairs and take care of Miss Roberts. I can wait."

"Nope. I'll take care of your computer first."

Chuck looked things over. It didn't appear to be anything serious. "OK, I think I can fix this really quick," he said. He clicked with the mouse and typed on the keyboard. Lois' phone rang.

"Good morning and thank you for calling Fulcrumatic. How may I help you?"

"Yes Miss Roberts, Chuck has arrived and he should be headed your way right now. Yes ma'am, yes ma'am." As Lois talked, she made motioning gestures with her hand, urging Chuck to get going right away.

Chuck shook his head and took the phone away from Lois. "Hi Jill. I'm working on Lois' computer and I'll be up there in a few minutes. This shouldn't take long," he said into the phone.

Lois watched as she could hear Jill Roberts talking back to Chuck who held his ground. "If our main receptionist's computer doesn't work, then how is she going to take care of all of the calls that come in and take messages and send people to voicemails and everything else? She is just as important as everybody else. I'm almost done and will be there in a few minutes." And then he hung up.

Lois beamed at Chuck. "Thanks Chuck. That was sweet of you."

"I meant what I said Lois. Your computer is just as important as everyone else's," Chuck said.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

About 10 minutes later, Chuck stepped off of the elevator onto the 10th floor and walked down the hallway and before he had taken four steps, a voice shrieked.

"CHUCK!"

He turned and found Fulcrumatic executive vice president Jill Roberts walking up to him. The tall, attractive brunette stood close to him and grasped his arm. "Chuck, I need you to fix my computer."

"I know Jill. I was headed your way right now. So if you step aside or lead the way, I can get to your office and fix the computer."

She kept hold of his arm and didn't move. So Chuck started to move around her but her hand grasped tightly onto his arm and stopped him. And then she stepped closer. A little too closely, Chuck thought. He tried to step back but her hand held him firmly in place.

"Chuck, I don't like being kept waiting. My computer needs to be fixed."

"And if you don't let go of me, you'll have to keep waiting," Chuck replied looking down at the hand that grasped his arm.

Jill bit the bottom of her lip and then put her face into his, very close and looked into his eyes. "I have a meeting to go to right now. Please fix my computer and we'll talk later," she said huskily. Then she squeezed his arm, let it go and walked away.

Chuck shook his head, trying to clear it. What was it about Jill Roberts that … that … well, there were a lot of things about Jill Roberts that made him wonder. First, he had the feeling that she was familiar, that he had met her before somewhere. But no matter how much Chuck tried, he couldn't recall where or when he and this Fulcrumatic vice president had been together. Yet, he still had the feeling that Jill was somebody he had known or should know.

And then second, the woman made him nervous. Chuck couldn't figure out why. She was always friendly to him and sometimes Chuck actually thought that she was flirting. In spite of that, Chuck still felt not only nervous around her, but sometimes actually scared. He looked down at where she had gripped his arm. When she had done that, he had almost jumped and squirmed. What did he feel that way about her? he asked himself as he turned and walked down the hallway towards her office to check out her computer.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sarah put the car in drive and pulled out of the Fulcrumatic parking lot and headed toward the park. She had about two hours before her yoga class and decided that she and Sallie could spend it relaxing and playing in the park. She had originally considered going to the beach but then decided that the park might have more advantages for her daughter -- no water to splash in, less sand to get in their shoes and Sallie would also have the park's playground.

About 10 minutes later, she pulled the car into the parking lot near the John Drake Commemorative Park. Sallie, upon seeing where they were, immediately started struggling to get out of her car seat, as Sarah unbuckled and got out of the car.

"Settle down little girl," Sarah told her daughter and opened the back door. She got Sallie out of the car seat, pulled her out of the car and set her on the ground. Sallie immediately dashed off toward the playground. Sarah locked the car with the remote on her key chain and then followed. She sat on a bench and watched Sallie playing on the slide and the jungle gym, dashing from one to other, giggling with her dark hair flying in all directions.

Sarah took all of that in, along with the beautiful park landscaping, the pretty structures and sights surrounding the park, the coastline that she could see off in a distance, and the beautiful blue sky – it was all so pretty and it all felt so wonderful. Her husband was right, she thought. "Must be heaven," she said out loud.

"Mommy!" Sallie yelled.

Sarah's head turned back to her daughter who was now seated on a swing.

"Yes sweetie?" she asked but she already knew what her daughter wanted.

"Push me please!"

Sarah sighed, stood up, and walked over to the swingset.

They played on the swingset for about a half-hour. By 9am, Sarah decided that they needed a treat. So she put Sallie back in the car and they traveled to the island's only coffee and latte bar, which was located near the shore. Sarah got herself a coffee and Sallie a hot chocolate. They sat out on the shop's porch. Sarah once again found herself marveling at the view and then her eyes settled on Sallie, who was drinking – well, more like slurping, Sarah amended with a grin. She looked at Sallie's dark hair which was so like Chuck's and Sallie's blue eyes which were so like hers, and wondered if Chuck would like another child.

When they finished their drinks, Sarah dropped Sallie off at the island's only daycare facility and went to her yoga class. An hour later, she picked Sallie up and they went home to relax and have lunch. They stayed there until about 1:45 and then Sarah dropped Sallie off at daycare again and headed off to her scrapbooking class. Then at 3pm, she left her class, picked up Sallie from daycare and the pair went home.

Sarah put some cartoons on the TV for Sallie and then went into the kitchen to check on dinner. She glanced into the slow cooker pot which had her southwestern chicken going. It looked fine. She checked her watch. Less than two more hours to go, so it would be ready by the time she got Chuck home from work, she thought. She went back into the living room to relax with Sallie.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Quiting time. Chuck waited at the elevator. The bell rang, the door opened, and he stepped in. And found himself face to face with Jill Roberts.

"Hi Chuck," she said with a big grin.

"Hey Jill." Chuck replied as the stepped onto the elevator. The doors closed and the elevator descended.

"I'm glad we're here, alone, Chuck. Have you thought any more about my offer?"

"I told you before, I'm happy doing what I'm doing."

"But you could do and be so much more Chuck. You're not fulfilling your potential," she emphasized.

Something about what she just said got Chuck's attention. Those words sounded familiar. Somebody had said the same thing to him before, somebody important to him. Sarah? Chuck thought. No, it was someone else. But who? He thought about the words that Jill just uttered and an image of a tall brunette with a kind and gentle face came to his mind.

"CHUCK! I'm talking to you," Jill snapped.

"Sorry, my mind drifted off somewhere," Chuck apologized.

"Well as I was saying, you're capable of so much more than fixing computers. I want you to do something better, more worthy of you. And working with me, you can. I can help you so much."

"And have a lot of long workdays, stress, ulcers, no time for the family and fun. I appreciate the offer but no thank you," he answered.

Jill moved closer to him, her face just a few inches from him as she spoke again softly and huskily. "Chuck, you don't have to answer now. Just think about it for a few days? OK?"

"I don't think my answer will be any different."

The rest of the elevator ride was silent. They arrived at the ground floor and Chuck and Jill walked out of the elevator and toward the front door.

"Good night Chuck! Good night Miss Roberts!"

"Good night Lois," both called back.

They stepped outside and Chuck immediately saw the car with Sarah and Sallie. He smiled, waved and started toward them. But then Jill's hand grasped his arm and stopped him. Chuck turned and Jill stepped closer to him.

"Remember Chuck, think about it, think about it some more, OK?" she said as she continued to hold onto his arm.

That uncomfortable feeling came again in Chuck as Jill grasped his arm. Chuck was tired of this and wanted to go home with his wife and daughter and figured that the quickest, easiest way to do that was to just agree and get going. "OK, I'll think about it. Good night," he said and pulled away and walked toward the car.

"Good night Chuck!" Jill called out brightly as he walked away.

Chuck got to the car, opened the door and climbed into the front passenger seat. "Hey Sarah! Hey Sallie!" he greeted happily as he settled in and buckled up. Sallie enthusiastically returned the greeting but Sarah said nothing.

"All set, let's go," Chuck said to Sarah after he got the seat belt hooked up. He turned toward Sarah and found an un-smiling and un-happy looking wife staring at him.

"What was that?" she asked.

"What was what?"

"HER, grabbing your arm and making eyes at you," she replied. Chuck thought that Sarah was joking. But when he looked, her face was serious, very serious.

"THAT was nothing, nothing at all," Chuck said.

"Well it sure looked like more than nothing to her. A LOT more!"

"Sarah, it was nothing and we don't need to waste time talking about Jill, who is one of my bosses, and nothing more," Chuck said.

"Oh, so she's JILL now."

"Sarah!"

"Was she flirting with you?" Sarah asked with a frown.

"If she was, it would be meaningless, pointless, and inconsequential to me. I LOVE YOU not her. When you are in a room, all I see, hear and feel is you. Jill can't even compare to you. She doesn't mean anything to me. I don't even like her. OK?"

Chuck looked directly at Sarah as he said those words, trying to emphasize the honesty and sincerity of what he said.

"OK?" he said again.

Sarah's face softened. "OK," she replied.

"Now how about we not let her ruin things and let's take our daughter home, have a nice dinner and a nice evening together?" Chuck suggested.

"OK," she said again. And then she leaned forward and kissed him.

Then she put the car in drive and drove out of the parking lot.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I can't explain it because she hasn't really done anything to me but I just don't like her. I, I … there's something about her, something that … I just don't like her!" Sarah said.

"I know what you mean, I know what you mean," Chuck said.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Still standing on the front walkway area of Fulcrumatic, Jill Roberts watched Chuck and Sarah conversing in the car. And as they left, her face turned angry and dark. Anyone walking by and seeing Jill at that moment would think they saw something evil

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sarah pulled the car into their driveway, put the car in park and shut off the engine. Chuck unbuckled, jumped out of the car and went to the back door and opened it. Sallie held out her arms. "Up, up, up, up, up!" she squealed as she waited for Chuck to unbuckle her from the car seat and pick her up and carry her. Which Chuck did. He walked to the front of the car where Sarah waited. When they reached her, Sarah stuck out a hand and ruffled Sallie's hair. Then she did the same to Chuck's hair.

"Hey!"

"Sorry," she said with a grin. "Well, actually I'm not sorry at all. I like stroking your hair."

"Well enough of that. Come on, let's go inside and eat."

"Sounds good to me."

They walked towards the front porch. As they did, they could see their next door neighbor Fred Bennett mowing his front lawn. He mowed back and forth in straight rows and had just come to the edge of the fence separating their two properties.

"Hi Fred!" Chuck and Sarah greeted him. Fred didn't return the greeting but the Bartowskis were too preoccupied to notice.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The southwestern chicken dinner was delicious. All of them enjoyed it and had second helpings. After dinner, they spent the evening relaxing in the living room. Sallie lay on the floor watching television. Chuck sat on one end of the couch reading while Sarah sat on the other end with a card table in front of her so that she could work on some of her crafts. Chuck glanced up from his book and looked at his daughter whose attention was riveted to some cartoons playing on the TV and Sarah who was deep in thought at manipulating some clay. The two people who he loved most in his life brought a smile to his face. And for the umpteenth time today, he was about to utter "Must be heaven!" when he heard something – something that didn't sound right.

He frowned, set his book down, stood up and walked to a front window.

"Is something wrong?" Sarah asked.

"Is Fred still mowing his lawn?" Chuck asked as he looked at her incredulously.

"Of course he's not. He was mowing it when we got home. That was about two hours ago, so he would have finished—"

Sarah stopped talking and looked puzzled. "That is a lawn mower," she noted.

"I know. It suddenly got my attention and I realized that it's been going since we got home," Chuck said. He looked out the window. "Yeah, that's Fred." He put his face closer to the window and cupped his hands around his eyes in effort to get a closer look outside. "He's just standing there with the lawn mower. I wonder if something's wrong," Chuck said as he headed to the front door, opened it and stepped outside. Sarah also got up.

It was dark outside but the streetlights at each end of the block illuminated the area fairly well. As Chuck walked over to the fence which separated their property from Fred's, he could see the man standing near the fence with the lawn mower engine running. Fred seemed to be pushing the mower but oblivious to the fence stopping his progress. And as Chuck got closer, he noticed that Fred's lips were moving. But the noise of the lawn mower drowned out whatever he said.

"Fred? Are you OK?" Chuck called out as he got closer. Fred did not reply.

Chuck leaned over the fence and looked. The lawn mower was right up against the fence and Fred was pushing it but with very little effort. It was if Fred had been mowing in a straight line toward the fence, bumped the mower against the fence, and then just stopped like he was waiting for someone to move the obstruction out of the way.

"Fred? Fred? Are you OK?" Chuck repeated as he looked at his neighbor. Fred continued to stand, staring straight ahead but he didn't seem to see Chuck. Chuck waved his hand near his neighbor's face but Fred seemed not to notice. He called his neighbor's name once, twice, three times. No response or acknowledgement. Something was definitely wrong.

Chuck looked at the lawn mower and spotted a power switch. He leaned over the fence, extended his arm and moved the switch to the off position. The lawn mower sputtered to a stop. Fred still continued to stand there, holding the lawn mower handle bars and speaking. Now Chuck could hear what he said.

"This isn't real, this isn't real, this isn't real, this isn't real, this isn't real, this isn't real…."

Chuck looked curiously at his neighbor. Fred appeared to be in shock or some kind of trance.

"Fred? Fred? FRED?" Chuck yelled. But Fred continued to stare straight ahead and say the same thing over and over again.

"CHUCK!"

Chuck turned his head toward the front porch of his house and saw Sarah and Sallie standing right outside the doorway, looking out at him.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Sarah shouted.

"Something's wrong with Fred. I think he's in shock or something. Call the paramedics."

Sarah pulled Sallie inside and shut the door. Chuck looked back at Fred who still stood there repeating his phrase. And he stayed the same as Chuck waited for the paramedics, who arrived in just under five minutes. A man and a woman jumped out of the truck. The woman carried a small suitcase while the man carried a big flashlight. They ran up to Fred's front gate, opened it and dashed toward the man.

"We'll take care of this sir. Go on back inside your home," the male paramedic said.

"His name is Fred Bennett and he–"

"We know who he is sir," the female paramedic said as she set her suitcase down on the ground and begin digging through it. She removed a syringe and medicine bottle. "We'll take good care of him. Why don't you go back inside and relax. We have this under control."

The male paramedic stood right next to Fred and reached down with his hand waiting for the female to hand him something. Which, after a few seconds, she did – the syringe which she had loaded with the liquid from the medicine bottle.

"Well he has been this way since late afternoon," Chuck explained, trying to help. "We came home and he–"

"We know sir," the woman said. "It's not anything serious. Fred Bennett is on special medication and he just forgot to take his regular dose. We'll take good care of him. Don't worry."

The man injected the medicine in Fred's neck. About a minute later, Fred slumped forward and the male caught him. The woman stood up and grabbed his legs. Together, the two paramedics picked up Fred and started toward the truck they came in.

That's funny, Chuck thought, shouldn't they use a stretcher or gurney or something? The female woman turned toward Chuck and faced him directly. "Sir, everything is under control. Fred will be fine. This is all over. Why don't you go back inside," she suggested firmly.

Chuck was about to respond but then he got a full and clear view of the woman's face and something happened. A bunch of images and pictures popped up in his mind. All of which were about the female standing in front of him. He saw her shooting pistols and rifles, he saw her in some kind of uniform, he saw different photographs of her on all kinds of wanted posters, and much more. And throughout all of those images, a name kept appearing – Wendy Wileler, the Red Plague.

And as suddenly as it began, it stopped. Chuck shook his head and found that he was still standing by the fence. The two paramedics and Fred were now over by the truck and preparing to go.

What the heck was all that? Chuck wondered silently. What just happened to me? He walked back inside the house with a feeling that something was wrong.

**END CHAPTER ONE**


	2. This Isn't Real

**CHUCK VS. THE GOOD & NORMAL & WONDERFUL LIFE**

**SUMMARY:** Chuck and Sarah have a wonderful marriage and daughter and live the normal life in a good house at a good island community. Or do they?????

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own "Chuck."

**NOTE:** Hello again and I hope you enjoy reading Chapter Two of my story of Chuck and Sarah living a "normal" life. I still have doubts about my abilities with the suspense, adventure, and mystery elements. Hopefully, that and everything else is readable and enjoyable. Please review and let me know!

**ANOTHER NOTE:** A salute to **Scooter42** who spotted the references in Chapter One to a classic TV series that helped inspire this Chuck story. And a _**"Thank you!"**_ to **Scooter42** for giving me some excellent material to use as lines, names and such so that I could reference the series some more. Look around and see if you can find them in this chapter and future chapters and figure out what classic TV series this is!

-

**CHAPTER TWO – THIS ISN'T REAL**

The next morning, when Sarah, Chuck, and Sallie walked out of the house for the drive to Chuck's workplace, they noticed their next door neighbor, Fred Bennett sitting on his front porch drinking coffee.

"Hang on a second," Chuck said and walked over to the fence. "Hey Fred," he called as he leaned over the fence and took a look at their neighbor.

"Hey there Chuck," Fred replied. "Heading off to work?"

"Sure am. I just wanted to check, are you feeling any better?"

Fred looked puzzled. "Was I sick?" he asked.

"Well, last night while you were mowing your lawn, you … well, you weren't quite yourself, you … you were acting kind of strange. The paramedics that came said that you must not have been taking your medication and—"

"Chuck, what are you talking about? I didn't mow my lawn last night. I stayed indoors and watched TV. There was a game I wanted to see. So I did that. You got me confused with somebody else?"

"No, no. I saw you last night … you were mowing your lawn and then you were in some kind of a trance or … or …." Chuck stopped talking when he saw that his neighbor was giving him skeptical looks.

"Chuck, I was inside all last night watching that game. I didn't come out at all and I certainly didn't mow my lawn. Are you sure you're not confusing me with somebody else or maybe you had a few too many?" Fred said as he held up his hand in the shape of a cup and made drinking motions to his mouth.

Chuck decided to drop it. "Oh probably. Sorry to bother you Fred."

"No bother. Have a good day at work," Fred replied.

Chuck started to turn away and then saw Fred's lawn. It had been mowed, very recently mowed.

**XXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Fred doesn't remember any of last night?" Sarah asked Chuck while they traveled in their car to Fulcrumatic.

"No. He denied it all, including mowing the lawn. But that lawn had been freshly mowed," Chuck said.

"Well, didn't you say last night that those paramedics said something about Fred missing some of his medication? Maybe doing that caused some sort of memory loss or something," Sarah suggested.

"Yeah, maybe that was it," he said. What other explanation could there be? Chuck wondered. Still, how Fred acted last night and this morning and those weird pictures and images of that female paramedic that appeared in his head bothered and worried him.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXX**

That morning, after dropping Chuck off at work, Sarah and Sallie traveled in the car to the grocery store, the only grocery store in Portmeirion Village. Sarah carried Sallie into the store, got a shopping cart, sat Sallie in it and then headed down the first aisle. She glanced at her list and checked the shelves for what she needed.

"Hello Mrs. Bartowski! How are you and Sallie doing today?"

"Hi Don. We're fine. How are you?"

"Just fine," Don Chaffey, a tall man in his 40s who managed the store, replied. "I see you're here for your weekly supply of groceries?"

"Yep, I have to get food for my husband and daughter who are always hungry," Sarah replied.

Don chuckled. "Well, good luck with that Mrs. Bartowski. If you need any help, don't hesitate to ask us. Be seeing you!"

Sarah turned the cart down the next aisle and continued shopping. She shopped and picked out groceries for about 15 minutes and then when she got to the cereal aisle, she had to pause and do some searching for the cereal that Sallie liked best. She finally found the right one and was reaching for it when she heard a voice call her name.

"Well, well, fancy meeting you here, Sarah," Jill Roberts, one of Chuck's bosses at Fulcrumatic, said as she strolled up next to the shopping cart.

"Hello Jill," Sarah greeted without any enthusiasm.

Jill studied Sarah for a moment. Then she smiled. "And how is the housewife today?"

"Fine. And how is the dressed-for-success executive today?" Sarah replied.

Jill frowned. She started to say something and then stopped. But after a moment, with the frown still on her face, she spoke. "Look, I need to talk to you about Chuck."

Sarah tensed. She did NOT like this woman and had not liked her on first sight. And that had surprised her. She could not figure out why but for some reason, she got concerned, worried and even scared whenever Jill came near Chuck. It was as if the woman posed a threat or danger to her husband. But for the life of her, Sarah couldn't figure out why Jill caused such a reaction. Nor could she figure out why the tall brunette seemed familiar to her, as if they had met before.

"Mommy?" Sallie asked, looking inquiringly at her mother. That brought Sarah out of her thoughts.

She took a deep breath. "Yes sweetie?"

"Cereal?"

"In a minute Sallie. Mommy needs to take care of this," she said as she smiled at Sallie and then that smile vanished as she turned to Jill. "What about Chuck?"

"It's about his job at Fulcrumatic. He is capable of so much more than repairing computers and maintaining the network. You know that. Yet, he stays in that job there when he could do so much more."

"He's happy doing that. If Chuck is happy, then I'm happy," Sarah said.

"But he could do so much more. I'm assembling a team for a new project and Chuck would be perfect for it. I want him on my team. It would mean a promotion for him, a higher salary, more prestige. This would be a good thing for Chuck. Don't you want what's best for Chuck?"

"Why don't you talk to Chuck?" Sarah said and immediately regretted suggesting that Jill spend time with Chuck. She still remembered how Jill had held her husband's arm and looked at him last night.

"I have and every time I suggest that he work under me, he always refuses," Jill replied.

The way Jill had phrased "under me" caused Sarah's hands to grip the shopping cart handle tightly, to the point where her knuckles felt like they would burst under the strain. God, I hate this bitch, she thought. She didn't really want to spend any more time with Jill and she wanted even less to talk about her husband with Jill. But she had to admit that Jill's assessment of Chuck was correct. He _was_ capable of so much more than repairing and maintaining computers and networks. She knew that when she first met him back during his BuyMore days.

And something else gave Sarah pause. This conversation sounded familiar. Where have I heard this before? she wondered. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and looked back at Jill who was still standing there, waiting for Sarah to say something.

"I'll talk with Chuck and see what he says," Sarah told Jill. But she had no intention of doing that. She just wanted to get away from this woman. Far, far away. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get some shopping done." And without waiting for a reply, she moved her cart along the way.

"God, I hate that bitch," Sarah said out loud after Jill was out of earshot.

"Mommy? What does bitch mean?" Sallie asked.

Oh no, Sarah groaned inwardly.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Sarah and Sallie continued their shopping. As they went down the soft drinks and juices aisle, they came upon a man holding a six-pack of soda. He just stood in the middle of the aisle staring at it and blocking the pathway.

Sarah stopped the shopping cart and waited a moment for him to move so that they could get by. The man ignored them and kept staring at the six pack that he held.

"Excuse me," Sarah said. The man made no response nor did he look up from the soda.

"Excuse me," she said again, louder. Still no response or movement from the man.

"Hey!" she yelled.

The man finally turned toward Sarah and Sallie. Sarah was taken aback when she saw the man's face in full. It was covered with sweat and his eyes looked wild. He kept staring at them but he didn't speak. Finally after a few moments, he mumbled something but Sarah couldn't hear what he said.

"What?" she asked.

He looked at Sarah and Sallie for a while and spoke in a soft whisper.

"This … isn't … real," he said.

"Excuse me?" Sarah asked puzzled.

"This … isn't … real. This isn't real." Then his head started jerking back and forth, left and right. And then he started screaming.

"THIS ISN'T REAL! THIS ISN'T REAL! THIS ISN'T REAL!"

He hurled the six pack against the shelf and whirled around. Sallie screamed in fright. Sarah jumped in front her daughter. The man went to a shelf and started pulling cans and bottles of soda and water off it while continuing to scream "THIS ISN'T REAL!" Bottle and cans fell to the floor. Some cans cracked and soda spurted out. A few customers who were at the end of the aisle screamed and fled. Sarah stood there in shock.

The man reached the end of the aisle and came back toward Sarah and Sallie. Sarah just stood there not moving and not believing what was happening. Sallie screamed and Sarah snapped awake. As the man raced toward them, Sarah sidestepped, stuck her leg out and tripped the man. He fell to the floor with a thud. After a few seconds, he rose up. Sarah delivered a kick straight to his head. The blow knocked him to the floor on his back. He shook his head and started to get up but Sarah delivered another kick and he fell to the ground and stayed there, not moving.

Sarah, suddenly realizing what she had just done, stood still in astonishment. How did I do that? she wondered. She stared at the unconscious man while pondering her actions and trying to figure out what had just happened. How did I do that? she asked herself again. Then Sallie's cries penetrated her thoughts. She quickly rushed to her frightened daughter who was still seated in the shopping cart.

"Hey, hey, hey, it's OK, it's OK," she said to the sobbing little girl as she picked her up. She held Sallie close and stroked her hair. "It's OK, it's OK. No one's going to hurt you."

A few seconds later, the store manager and two employees appeared.

"Mrs. Bartowski, are you all right?" Don asked.

"We're fine," she replied.

Don looked down at the still unconscious man. "I guess you didn't any help," he mused.

"Do you know who this is? He seemed … well … he was acting a little crazy, he said that this wasn't real," Sarah said.

Don exchanged glances with the two men. "I'm so sorry this happen Mrs. Bartowski. I know this man. He … has a few problems that … that require medication. If he doesn't take that medication regularly, like he's supposed to … well, you just saw the result. Are you sure you and Sallie are all right?" Don said.

Sarah looked at Sallie who by this time had stopped crying but was still clinging to her. "We're fine. What about this man? Will he be all right?"

"He'll be fine. Don't you worry about him. You just go on and let us deal with this. Don't worry about a thing."

"Shouldn't we call the police or the paramedics or someone?" Sarah asked.

"As I said, I know this man and I know his doctor. We'll get him to the doctor and he'll be fine. You just run along and don't worry about it now, OK? Be seeing you!" Don said.

The two men with Don leaned down and picked up the man. He was still unconscious and Sarah still wondered how she had subdued the man. She also wondered something else. Last night there was Fred, their next door neighbor and now today there was this man in the grocery store. How many people in Portmeirion Village are off of their medication? she thought. But she said nothing, put Sallie back in the shopping cart seat and left.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Sarah pondered for most of the afternoon about what had happened at the grocery store and how she had knocked out that man. She had never taken any self-defense classes in her life. Yet, she had handled herself like a professional fighter or some sort of spy. The fighting moves she did felt so natural, she thought. But she still couldn't figure out how she had done all that. She had thought about telling Chuck about what had happened but then decided not to. He would just worry about the whole incident. And eventually, Sarah decided to just forget it. The important thing was that she and Sallie had not been hurt. And besides, she and Chuck were going out to dinner tonight and Sarah didn't want anything spoiling that.

Sarah picked up Chuck from work at the usual time. They dropped Sallie off at the island's daycare facility and then drove to the Rover Cafe, the island's best restaurant. Since they arrived before 5:30pm, the place was practically empty and they were seated right away. The hostess handed them menus and they sat in silence studying the food choices. A few minutes later, a waitress took their orders and left.

"It certainly feels different, eating a meal without Sallie," Sarah remarked.

"Yeah, quieter," Chuck joked.

Sarah smiled, reached across the table and grasped Chuck's hand and looked at him. Chuck looked back at her.

"Wow," he said.

"What?"

"Talk about making my day."

"What?" Sarah repeated.

"The way you're looking at me right now," he explained. "It's as if you're in love with me or something." He smiled.

"Well, I am in love you silly. I love you very much," she said.

"And I love you very much," Chuck replied.

They sat that way for a few seconds, looking at each other and enjoying the quiet, private moment. It was perfect, Sarah thought, and wonderful. Unfortunately, the moment was interrupted.

"Chuck!" yelled a voice, a voice that Sarah knew all too well. She gritted her teeth as Jill Roberts strolled up to the table and stood besides Chuck.

"Hey Jill," Chuck said without any enthusiasm.

Jill looked down at Chuck, at only him, and completely ignored Sarah. "Having dinner?" she asked.

"Well, we're not here to rent some DVDs," Chuck joked.

Jill laughed. She laughed a little too loudly and a little too long at Chuck's joke as she continued to look at him, eyes never straying anywhere else.

Sarah noticed this and something started to build up inside her, something like a volcano about to erupt. She gritted her teeth again and her grip on her husband's hand tightened.

Jill patted Chuck's shoulder. Her hand stayed on his shoulder and held it. "You're so funny," she said brightly.

Looking at Jill touching her husband filled Sarah with what she quickly realized wasn't just jealously but also alarm and fear. Once again, when Jill was around, Sarah felt as if her husband was in danger. She had to resist a powerful urge to jump up and place herself between Chuck and Jill, to protect Chuck from some threat or trouble. But it was just his boss. It wasn't like this woman was some enemy, someone that could harm Chuck … was it?

"Enjoy your dinner," Jill said and walked away, still not looking at Sarah or in her direction.

Sarah watched Jill's departing form and her eyes narrowed. As the distance between them and Jill grew, Sarah could feel herself calming slightly.

"Sarah?" Chuck said.

She turned her head back to her husband and looked inquiringly.

"Could you ease up your grip a little on my hand? It hurts," Chuck said.

"Sweetie, I'm so sorry," she apologized as she immediately let go. Chuck shook his hand a little and then rubbed it with his other hand.

"Wow," he said.

"I'm sorry," Sarah said again with concern. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you."

"It's OK, it's OK," he said. "No broken bones, nothing like that." Then he looked at her and smiled. "Quite a grip you have there Mrs. Bartowski," he said. Then he inclined his head toward the direction that Jill went and added, "You know, I think you could easily take her."

Sarah smiled but her eyes didn't reflect any humor. "Are you sure your hand is OK. I'm so sorry," she said.

"It's OK, it's OK. It just surprised me how powerful your grip is. You really don't like her, do you?"

Sarah's face darkened. "Chuck, I know I get a little jealous about her because she flirts you with a lot—"

Chuck started to protest but Sarah quickly cut him off. "Chuck, she DOES flirt with you. She was flirting with you just now and you can't deny that. I know that you don't flirt back with her. But she still flirts with you and it still bothers me. But it's not just that. There is something about her … I don't know what, I can't explain it but something about her that just … just bothers me or brings out the worst in me … I just worry about her being near you because I think that you're in danger when you're near her or … I don't know … she's just evil, Chuck, evil."

Sarah thought that she not only sounded like a jealous wife but a nutty jealous wife. However, Chuck didn't laugh at or make fun of what she just said. He nodded and then surprised her with what he said next.

"I kind of know what you mean. She kind of gives me the creeps. And I can't explain why either. It's as if … I don't know. Maybe you're right, maybe she is evil."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The rest of their evening turned out well. No sooner had their discussion of Jill ended that their food arrived. They ate, talked, and soon Jill was forgotten, and it was just the two of them. They took their time eating, enjoying the food and the peace and quiet of an evening out for just the two of them. They had dessert and coffee. Then they paid their bill and departed.

In the car, Sarah looked at her watch. "It's just after seven and the day care can keep Sallie until nine," she noted. And then she rubbed her hand along Chuck's thigh. "Feel like going home and making out with your wife for a little while?" she asked seductively.

"You don't have to ask me twice," Chuck said with a smile and drove the car toward their home.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

They picked up Sallie at the day care facility about 10 minutes before 9pm. Their little girl was stretched out on a couch sleeping. Trying not to wake up, Sarah picked up Sallie carefully and gently and carried her out to car while Chuck paid the day care bill. She had just gotten Sallie strapped into the car seat and quietly closed the back passenger side door when another car pulled into the day care parking lot. The car parked two spaces from their car and a man got out of the car.

Sarah opened the front passenger side door and was about to get into the car when she saw the man who had just arrived at the day care facility. She recognized him immediately. It was the man who had gone berserk at the grocery store this morning. She worried a bit but then calmed as she could that the man appeared quite normal as he walked toward the day care entrance. She couldn't help staring at him and the man noticed.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"I'm sorry for staring but I'm relieved that you're OK. You gave my daughter and me quite a fright this morning," Sarah replied.

The man looked puzzled and then looked at Sarah. "Do I know you? Have we met before?"

"I was at the grocery store this morning and you … well, you had kind of a seizure or something and … well, you kind of tore up some things and did a lot of yelling …." Sarah stopped as the man looked at her as if she was crazy or drunk.

"I think you have me mistaken for somebody else. I wasn't at the grocery store this morning. I was at my job all day," he replied. Then he abruptly turned and walked to the day care entrance. He opened the door and stepped in just as Chuck stepped out.

"Sorry," Sarah called out. "I guess I did mistake you for someone else." But she didn't. She knew that was the man at the grocery store.

Chuck walked up to Sarah with a questioning look. "What's going on?" he asked.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"And you're sure that's the same guy?" Chuck asked.

While they drove home from the day care facility, Sarah had told Chuck about the whole incident at the grocery store and seeing the man again just now.

"Positive," Sarah replied. "But he didn't think so. He denied the whole thing."

"Just like Fred, our next door neighbor," Chuck noted.

"And just like Fred, I was told that this guy was probably not taking his medication and that's what caused him to act crazy. Don't you think that's strange?"

Chuck sighed. "Yes I do. But it could just be a coincidence."

"And Chuck, how did I knock out that man at the grocery store? I've never taken any self defense classes or anything like that. But I did it. How did I do that? I'm not a fighter."

"What you did to my hand might prove otherwise," Chuck said with a smile as he held up the hand that Sarah had gripped so strongly during dinner.

"Chuck, be serious. How could I have knocked out that man?" Sarah asked.

"Well, you were with Sallie and you and I will do anything to protect our daughter and keep her safe. Maybe your protective instincts and adrenaline kicked in when Sallie was threatened and you just did whatever you could to protect her," he theorized.

Sarah didn't know what to say. She glanced back at their daughter who was still conked out in the car seat. The thought of anyone or anything trying to harm Sallie did indeed bring out a lot of strong emotions inside of her. Could that had been it? Could it all had been just a mother protecting her daughter?

"Hey," Chuck called.

Sarah turned and looked at her husband.

"Whatever it was that enabled you to stop that guy, I'm glad that it happened and that you and Sallie didn't get hurt," he said.

She smiled and reached up and stroked the back of Chuck's head, running her fingers through his hair. Just like her daughter, the thought of anyone or anything harming her husband also brought out a lot of strong emotions inside of her.

It's my job to protect you from everything, she thought. And then she shook her head slightly, puzzled as to why she had just now thought that she was some sort of bodyguard or something like that. She stayed quiet for the rest of the drive home as she couldn't quite shake the feeling that something was wrong.

**END CHAPTER TWO**


	3. Now What? Now What? Now What?

**CHUCK VS. THE GOOD & NORMAL & WONDERFUL LIFE**

**SUMMARY:** Chuck and Sarah have a wonderful marriage and daughter and live the normal life in a good house at a good island community. Or do they?????

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own "Chuck."

**NOTE:** A big **"THANK YOU!"** to everyone who has reviewed my story. I like getting reviews. Keep them coming!

**ANOTHER NOTE:** My guess is that by the end of this chapter and/or the next chapter, you will figure out what is going on. And several people have wondered what classic television series helped inspire this Chuck story. Well I could let you know but …. "That would be telling!"

**AND STILL ANOTHER NOTE:** Is it just me or does this season of "Chuck" the TV series have a lot of episodes ending with Chuck very sad and depressed? It seems to me that at the end of a lot of episodes in this second season, I'm feeling very sorry for Chuck. I especially felt that way after the episode "Chuck Vs. The Suburbs" ended Monday, Feb. 16. Well, hopefully, this chapter will give everyone some fun instead of sadness.

-

**CHAPTER THREE – NOW WHAT? NOW WHAT? NOW WHAT?**

Chuck tightened the last screw on the back of the CPU cover and it was done. He picked up the unit and put it on the shelf against the wall. Then he turned back to the workbench. All clear. That was the last of the repairs that had been waiting for him today. He wondered if there were any other computer problems or issues in the building. He looked at the phone on his desk. The message light was not on. He checked his cell phone. No messages. He checked the "To Do" sheet on his desk. Blank. He went to his computer and checked his email. No frantic notes from anyone about their computer.

Could I actually have done everything and I now have nothing to do? he wondered.

"Chuck!"

He knew that voice oh so well.

"Hey Jill," he replied without turning around.

"Have you thought any more about working with me?" she asked.

"Yes, and thanks but no thanks, Jill."

"Chuck, I really wish that you would do this. You are capable of so much more than working on computers. Let me help you. Work with me," she said.

"Once again, thanks but no thanks. Now I hate to rush you off, but I have a few repairs to do that I'm behind on." He didn't have any repairs at all but he wanted to end this conversation and get away from her. He felt strange being alone in a room with Jill. And like on previous occasions, being alone with Jill worried him a little. He still couldn't figure out why, but it did.

Jill stood there holding a folder against her chest with both arms and frowning. She said nothing for a moment and then uncrossed her arms and dropped them to her sides. "Fine Chuck. But I still wish you'd come work for me. We could be so good together," she said and walked out of his office.

Chuck didn't answer. As she walked away, the front of the folder she held was in full view. He saw some design on it and then all kinds of different pictures and images appeared in his mind at rapid speed. It was like his brain was overloading with a movie or video or something. He felt a slight pain, like a headache coming on. And then, he wondered where he was.

"What the hell?" he muttered out loud. "That was Jill, my ex from college … Jill, the Fulcrum agent who … how did she get out of prison and …."

He stopped talking and looked incredulously around him. Where am I and what is happening … Sarah and I … we were on a mission … and…. Chuck thought. Suddenly, he had an idea of what was going on. But more importantly, he quickly realized that he and Sarah were in trouble and that he probably didn't have much time. He had to do something – and quickly. Help, I have to get help, he told himself. He grabbed his cell phone. It wasn't his iPhone. Never mind that, he thought, dial, dial, dial! He quickly punched in a number.

Chuck heard the ringing and then a recording. "I'm sorry. The number you are dialing is not in service."

Now what? Now what? Now what? Chuck asked himself.

He thought of someone else and dialed their phone number. Once again, there were three rings and then the same not-in-service recording.

Chuck looked over at the phone on his desk. Maybe a land line will work, he thought. He rushed over to it and dialed a number. The result was the same. The number he was trying to dial was not in service. He dialed another number. Still no service. He slammed down the phone in frustration.

He tried to think of someone else to call or something else that he could do. He started to dial another number but then he heard a noise behind him. Before he could turn around, he felt hands grabbing him and then everything went black.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Chuck opened his eyes and found a frowning Sarah staring down at him. Where am I? he wondered. He moved his head and it hurt. He grasped it with one hand and tried to glance around. He was in an office and he was lying on a couch.

"Daddy!" Sallie screamed in delight as she ran up to the side of the couch. "You're awake," she exclaimed.

"Hi Sallie," Chuck said. And then he looked back at Sarah who was still standing there, looking down at him and frowning. She looked upset.

"What happen?" he asked.

"That's what I'd like to know," Sarah replied. She sounded angry.

"You fainted Chuck," Jill Roberts said as she walked up to the couch and looked down at him. "We were just discussing things and you blacked out. I helped you onto the couch and then Sarah walked right in."

Chuck stared at Sarah, puzzled.

"We came to pick you up at quitting time as usual and you weren't down on the walkway in the front. We waited and waited. I called your cell phone and you didn't answer. So I parked the car, got Sallie and came up to your floor and we found you here," she said.

"Here" was on a couch in Jill Roberts' office. Chuck thought for a moment and then he remembered. Yes, he and Jill were meeting in her office and talking about improvements and changes to the computer network. That was the last thing that he could recall. And then what happen? he asked silently. I don't remember. I guess I did black out. He shook his head, trying to make sense of it all.

"Why don't you three go on home. Chuck needs to rest. He probably got dehydrated or he has been working too hard or something like that. I'm sure he'll be fine," Jill said.

Chuck sat up. The pain in his head was now gone. He stood up off of the couch. He didn't feel weak or dizzy or anything like that. He felt OK. "Yeah, let's go home," he said to Sarah and Sallie.

Sarah still looked at him with a frown. "Fine," she said. She grasped Sallie's shoulder and directed her toward the door. As they walked out, Jill called "Glad you're feeling better Chuck. See you tomorrow."

"Look, I was meeting with Jill and—" Chuck started but he was motioned into silence by Sarah. She held up her hand indicating for him to wait. Sallie had dashed toward the elevator and when she was further ahead, Sarah spoke in a low tone.

"We will talk about this later – at home when we're alone. I do NOT want to discuss this in front of Sallie," she said firmly as they walked toward the elevator.

"But –"

"Chuck! NOT NOW!"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Chuck, Sarah and Sallie arrived at home about 15 minutes later. When they got inside the house, Sarah turned the television onto one of the cartoon channels. "Why don't you watch some TV sweetie," she said to their daughter. Sallie climbed up onto the couch and sat down. Sarah stood nearby and waited. Once satisfied that Sallie's attention was on the program, Sarah directed Chuck to their bedroom. She pushed the door almost closed. Then she turned toward Chuck, crossed her arms, and bore her eyes at him with an angry look on her face.

"I'd like an explanation," she said firmly.

"So would I," Chuck said.

"Chuck, this is not funny. I would like to know what happened in Jill Robert's office."

"Nothing happened. It's just like Jill said. I was meeting with her about the computer network. We were discussing improvements, upgrades and changes. That's the last thing I remember. And then after that, I don't remember what happen. I must have blacked out or passed out or something and then …." Chuck stopped and thought. He tried to remember the fainting spell or feeling sick but he couldn't. What had caused it? And why couldn't he remember that part? He felt his head, searching for a bump that he might have gotten when he blacked out and fell.

"Chuck," Sarah said.

Chuck looked at his wife.

"Where is your undershirt," she asked as she pointed at his chest.

Chuck looked down. No undershirt. He always wore an undershirt with his shirt. But he wasn't wearing one now. What happened to it?

He looked back at Sarah. She looked even more upset. She started to speak several times and stopped. She put a fist up to her mouth and her body quivered a little. Then she looked away and seemed to be trying to gain control of herself. She took a deep breath and, after a few seconds, turned back to Chuck.

"You are not waiting outside for me to pick you up at the usual time. You don't answer your cell phone when I called to find out where you were. I go up to your office to look for you and you're not there. And then I find you in Jill Roberts' office, lying on the couch and you don't have on your undershirt. Chuck, what am I supposed to think?"

"Sarah, it's just like I said. I was in a meeting with Jill and then I woke up and there you were. I know that sounds lame and maybe even strange. But other than that, I really don't remember anything," he said. "And as to my cell phone …." He reached down and pulled the phone out of his pocket and looked.

"Well, it's turned off. That's why I didn't get your call. I guess the battery got low and it automatically shut off," he said.

Sarah stood there frowning at him. She swallowed two or three times and then spoke in a shaky voice.

"Are you … are you having an affair with Jill Roberts?" she asked.

"What? No! No! NO!"

"Chuck, I want the truth. Tell me the truth."

"Sarah, I am telling the truth. I promise you, I am NOT having an affair with Jill Roberts. I'm not having an affair with anyone," he said looking directly into her eyes.

Sarah didn't say anything but kept looking back at him, studying him.

"Sarah, I would never, NEVER cheat on you. You know me, you know I'm couldn't do that. I wouldn't do that. You know that," Chuck said.

Sarah stayed silent and kept looking at him. Her silence was unbearable to Chuck. His eyes never strayed from hers as he tried to read her expression, her mind as to what she was thinking or feeling. Then she nodded and her expression softened a little. "Of course you couldn't do that," she said as she let out a breath. "I know you. You would never do that. You would never cheat on me or lie to me. I knew that after five minutes with you on our first date."

She moved forward and embraced him. Chuck held her close to him. "I know it sounds like a lame or even a crazy excuse but all I remember is that meeting with Jill and then waking up and there you were. That's all I can remember. But I know I would never cheat on you. I couldn't do that. I love you," he said.

"I love you too. And I know you wouldn't cheat on me. And besides, if you did, I'd be able to spot it instantly. I know you. You wouldn't be able to hide something like that from me. I would see it on your face in a second. I know you that well," Sarah replied.

They stood that way for a while, holding each other and trying to forget and drive away the argument they just had.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

As Ellie Bartowski marched through the front door of the BuyMore, her eyes, by habit, immediately looked over at the Nerd Herd counter. She couldn't help it. Every time she came into the store, she always looked for her brother who almost always was working at the Nerd Herd counter. But he wasn't there. He hadn't been there or at home or at any of his usual places for over a few weeks now.

She had to stop for a moment and compose herself. She didn't want to break down crying in a public place like the BuyMore. She took a deep breath and told herself that she came here to do a task and that she needed to complete that task.

This will help, this will help find Chuck and Sarah. So get yourself together girl! Chuck and Sarah need your help, they don't need you to cry, she said silently. Once composed, she walked on. When she got to the middle of the BuyMore, she spotted Morgan Grimes at an aisle on the right, sitting on the floor, loading boxes onto a store shelf. She turned that way and walked toward Chuck's best friend.

Morgan continued loading the boxes onto the shelf, not noticing or acknowledging that someone was standing right next to him when Ellie arrived at his side.

"Morgan?" she said.

Morgan's head slowly looked up. "Hey Ellie," he said without any enthusiasm. He did not stand.

Ellie studied Morgan. He did not look good. Chuck and Sarah's disappearance had affected many people but Ellie knew that she and Morgan were probably the ones most depressed and upset about it. Since her brother and his girl friend had gone on that date a few weeks ago and not returned, no sign, no traces, no clues – nothing – had been found. The police had been unable to tell them anything as they couldn't find anything. For a while, they had expected some ransom demands to occur but now, a few weeks later, the police ruled out any kidnapping theories. And any other speculations as to what occurred were certainly not any more cheerful or hopeful than kidnapping.

Both of us are wrecks about this, Ellie thought as she stared at Morgan. Like her, he looked tired, red-eyed and depressed. But also like her, he hadn't given up.

"Did you bring them? Is that them?" Morgan said indicating the bundle of papers Ellie had tucked under her arm.

"What? Oh … yes … here they are," she said as she handed the papers down to him. Morgan took a look at one of the sheets from the bundle. Big, bold headers saying "Have You Seen This Man? Have You Seen This Woman?" were at the top of the sheet and underneath those headers were photos of Chuck and Sarah along with text describing them, their last know whereabouts, and who and where to call if anyone did have any information. A few days after Chuck and Sarah had gone missing, Ellie had made up the flyers on Chuck's computer and had hundreds made so that she and others could post them all over. Yesterday, Morgan had called her and asked if she could bring 1,000 copies to him.

"I'll get these out there Ellie," Morgan said as he looked at the photos of Chuck and Sarah. "I talked to the people at the BuyMore main office and every BuyMore in town is going to post these in the store and employees at every store are going to post them at places all around the BuyMores. I'll also get copies on the internet. Jeff and Lester have set up a website and we can get a copy on there. They're also going to get the posters or information posted on every missing persons website that's out there." His eyes never strayed from the two photos on the flyer. "We'll find them Ellie, we'll find them." And then his head bent down.

Ellie crouched down and put her arm around Morgan's shoulders. "Thank you," she said softly.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Major John Casey opened his eyes and immediately closed them as the bright light shining down into his face bothered him. After a moment, he opened his eyelids cautiously and let his eyes adjust to the brightness. He could tell that he was lying down and he immediately wondered if he was bound or strapped to some table or platform. He moved his arms and legs slightly. No, he was not tied up.

His eyes focused on his surroundings and he realized that he was in a bed in a strange room and clad in some sort of loose fitting pajamas, not his regular clothes. Sounds coming from a distance indicated a lot of activity and talking. He turned his head to the left and saw some monitors alongside his bed with cords and tubes that led to him.

Hospital, he realized.

He turned his head to the right and found a tall, well-dressed man standing there, watching him. He recognized the man as fellow NSA Agent William Myers.

"Glad that you're awake major," Myers said.

"What happen? How did I get here?" Casey asked.

"You went on a mission that went bad. You managed to escape and call in for help on your cellular. We tracked down your phone but that's all we found. It took us quite a while to locate you because apparently some people found you unconscious in an alley after you called and took you to a hospital. With no ID or anything on you, you got listed as 'John Doe' and you've been in a coma for a while."

Casey thought for a moment and he started remembering. Then he became concerned. His eyes darted rapidly sideways, looking around in his hospital room.

"Where are agents Walker and Carmicheal?" Casey asked.

"We were hoping that you could tell us that major," Myers replied.

**END CHAPTER THREE**


	4. Why Would We Want To Leave the Island?

**CHUCK VS. THE GOOD & NORMAL & WONDERFUL LIFE**

**SUMMARY:** Chuck and Sarah have a wonderful marriage and daughter and live the normal life in a good house at a good island community. Or do they?????

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own "Chuck."

**NOTE:** Please review. We Fan Fiction Writers don't get paid, we don't get famous, and we don't get nominated for Oscars, Emmys or Golden Globes. All we get are reviews. So please review!

**ANOTHER NOTE:** I see by the reviews that people are curious about what classic TV series helped inspire this Chuck story for me. Well, when I say "classic TV series," I mean CLASSIC – as in more than 40 years ago. I guess I'm showing my age. But if you can't figure out which series it is, don't worry, I will tell all in the last chapter. Be seeing you!

-

**CHAPTER FOUR – WHY WOULD WE WANT TO LEAVE THE ISLAND?**

When Chuck and Sarah got up Saturday morning, it looked beautiful outside. While seated at the dining table, eating breakfast, they debated on how to spend the day. Sarah suggested a picnic to the park and Sallie enthusiastically agreed.

"Well, I guess it's settled then. We'll have a picnic," Chuck said.

"I'll make some lunch to pack and take with us," Sarah said.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Sarah got out slices of wheat bread, put them on a plate and then got out mayo, cheese, and turkey from the refrigerator. She squeezed mayo out of the plastic bottle on all slices of bread and then got a knife out of a drawer. With a slice of bread in her left hand and the knife in her right, she spread the mayo.

The knife blade glinted in the sunlight coming through the kitchen window and for a moment, that blade seemed to glow. Sarah stopped and gazed at the knife. Something about it attracted her attention. She stared at it intently thinking that there was something … something about the knife. But it was just an ordinary knife. The blade was hardly sharp. Nothing special about it, she thought.

Yet, she couldn't stop staring at it and thinking about how it felt in her hand. It felt so right, she thought, there was just something about it, something that made her think and wonder.

She held up the knife and then flipped it up with a snap of her wrist. The knife turned several times in the air and dropped back into her hand perfectly. That felt good, really good. And it also felt right, as if it was something that she had done before, something that was natural for her.

She stared again at the knife. Then she looked around the kitchen. She saw a calendar hanging from the wall. It had a picture of mountains. She stared back at the knife and then back at the calendar. Then suddenly, quickly, she flipped out her arm and hurled the knife at the mountains photo. The knife hit the photo and stuck into the side of the cabinet from which the calendar hung. The knife hit the exact spot she had been looking at.

Sarah was shocked. How did I do that? she wondered in astonishment. Yet some small part of her mind seemed comfortable and at ease with what she did, as if she had done that before, many times before. But how? She stared at the knife stuck in the calendar on the wall for a while.

Then a small voice from the kitchen entryway brought her out of such thoughts.

"Mommy?"

Sarah shook her head as if she was breaking a trance. She gazed down at her daughter.

"Yes sweetie?"

"When are we going to the park?"

"Oh, I'm sorry Sallie. I got sidetracked. I have to get our lunch ready. Give mommy a few minutes and we'll get going. Go check on daddy and see if he's ready."

Sarah quickly got another knife and went back to preparing the sandwiches, not giving another thought to what she had just done with the first knife.

**XXXXXXXXXXX**

About a half-hour later, they packed up the car, put Sallie in the car seat and then got in, buckled up and traveled to the park. It was a beautiful, calm day with hardly a cloud in the sky and a nice cool breeze – a perfect day for a picnic.

They arrived at John Drake Commemorative Park, got out, and headed to the playground with Sallie leading the way. Sallie rushed all around, sliding down the slide, climbing on the jungle gym, playing in the sand, and exploring the fort. At one point, Chuck and Sarah sat together on a bench, watching Sallie play. Sarah looped her arm through Chuck's and then leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Are you OK?" Chuck asked.

"Oh yeah. I just wanted to lean against you and be close to you. Is that all right?" she replied.

"All right? It's wonderful."

"Well, thank you. I think it's wonderful too."

They sat that way for a while, watching Sallie play. When her eyes strayed toward the swingset, she rushed over there and begged for someone to push her. Both Chuck and Sarah rose and walked over to their daughter. Sarah stood on one side of the swing and Chuck on the other and they both pushed the swing gently giving Sallie her ride.

About 20 minutes later, she declared that she was hungry. They stopped the swing and Sarah picked her up and carried her to one of the picnic tables while Chuck went back to the car and returned with the picnic basket. They spread the food and drinks out on the table and they all sat down and ate.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Have room for any more?" Sarah asked.

"No thanks, I'm stuffed," Chuck replied. He looked over at Sallie. "How about you little girl? You want anything more to eat?" She shook her head.

Chuck stretched out his arms and yawned. "Well, should we pack up and go home?" he asked.

"Oh it's so nice out here," Sarah said. "Let's stay a little longer."

"OK, but why don't we pack up the picnic basket and let me put that up in the car," he suggested.

They dumped the trash and put the utensils and leftover food back in the basket and Chuck carried it back to the car. Along the way, he spotted another vehicle pulling in and parking. A man and a woman got out.

"Hey there," they greeted as they walked past Chuck.

"Hi, how are you?" Chuck answered.

"Fine. Beautiful day, isn't it?" the man replied.

"It sure is. Enjoy it," Chuck said as he smiled and glanced over at the man. He was in his thirties with sandy hair and a tanned face.

"We sure will," the man said and waved his hand at Chuck. And on his hand was a silver ring with a blood red star in the center. And when Chuck saw that, he saw that ring and that man in his mind. The images went by quickly and when they finished, Chuck stopped walking and looked around him.

"Oh God, I got assimilated again, didn't I?" he moaned out loud. Yep, he was still on that island. But how did he get here? He thought and in a few seconds, he remembered that he, Sarah and Casey went on a mission and – SARAH! WHERE WAS SARAH?

He quickly turned around and saw Sarah over by the picnic table. She was standing with that young girl. They waved and when he waved back, he realized that he was still holding that picnic basket. He walked over to the car, unlocked it and put the picnic basket up.

What to do, what to do, what to do, what to do? he thought. He looked around. There didn't seem to be anyone coming after him. As far as he could tell, everything was normal. So maybe no one realized yet that he was himself again.

So what should I do? How can I get us out of here? he thought. Then he heard Sarah yell.

"Chuck! What's taking so long? Is something wrong with the car?"

The car, THE CAR, he thought. He could get Sarah and the girl in the car, drive to the ferry and get over to the mainland and get out of here. That was it. That's what he could do. He slammed the car door shut and rushed back to the picnic table where Sarah and Sallie were sitting.

OK Bartowski, he said to himself, remain calm and cool. They're still converted, so you have to play this casually, like nothing is wrong.

"What took so long?" Sarah asked as he walked up to them.

"Oh, I just had a great idea," Chuck replied. "Why don't we get in the car and take the ferry over to the mainland and let's go spend the day at L.A. and have some fun there. We haven't been there in a while."

Sarah's expression went blank and she immediately responded in a toneless and mechanical voice, "Why would we want to leave the island? Everything we want is right here on the island." Then she looked at Chuck and smiled.

"Well, we haven't been over there in a while. Let's go and spend some time there," Chuck said.

"Why would we want to leave the island? Everything we want is right here on the island," Sarah said again. And again, she was expressionless and her voice was without emotion.

She's talking like a robot when she says that, Chuck thought. He reached down and picked up Sallie. "Come on, let's go to the car and let's get going. It will be fun," he said. Once Sallie was in his arms, he motioned Sarah to follow. Sarah hesitated for a moment, but shrugged and then walked toward the car with Chuck.

Sarah started to get in the driver's seat as she did most of the driving. But Chuck quickly handed her Sallie and said that he would drive. That robotic response she kept giving about leaving the island worried him. Would she drive somewhere else or turn the car around if he asked her to take them off the island? If he drove, maybe he could maintain control of the situation. He glanced around. Things still looked normal. He couldn't see any signs of someone coming to get him or watching him.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Chuck kept glancing in the car's rear and side view mirrors, keeping an eye out for anyone following or watching. He wasn't a real spy and thus wasn't an expert on surveillance, but as far as he could tell, things still looked OK. They were getting close to the ferry landing. Sarah had stayed quiet in the car the whole way but appeared to be unconcerned. She was just acting as if this was a nice, fun family drive. Chuck hadn't said anything and he especially didn't mention leaving the island, not knowing what her reaction would be. The way she had spoken about not leaving concerned him. It wasn't like Sarah to speak and act like that. He wondered if she had been programmed or something when she spoke about not leaving the island. Had Fulcrum done that? Was that how they kept inhabitants from leaving the island? Or prevented them from using the ferry to leave the island? Or from even just thinking about leaving the island?

The car was just about 20 feet from the turn for the ferry landing. Chuck looked in the rear view mirror. Not a car or person in sight. Maybe, just maybe, this will work, he thought.

He turned the car left into the ferry landing entrance.

"Chuck, where are we going?" Sarah said suddenly.

Her voice startled him a little. "Uhhh…I thought we could go over to L.A. and have some fun there for the day. Don't worry, we'll come back in a little bit."

"Why would we want to leave the island? Everything we want is right here on the island," Sarah said again in that robotic voice.

"Don't worry, we'll be back. This is just for fun," he said as he drove the car into the lane which led to the ferry loading entrance. The ferry was right at the dock. The Terence Feely ferry was there. A small ferry boat, it looked liked it could carry about a dozen or more cars. We're going to make it, we're going to make it, Chuck thought.

But then, Chuck saw a barrier blocking the lane. Then a man, a dock worker waving a stop sign, appeared alongside the barrier. Chuck braked and then the man ran up to the car.

Chuck lowered the window as the man approached.

"Howdy," he said. "Can I help you?"

"Uhhh…yeah, we just wanted to get on the ferry and go visit L.A. for the day," Chuck replied. He smiled and then added, "Clear for launch?"

The dock worker frowned. "Well, I'm afraid there's a problem. We're having some mechanical problems with the engine. So the ferry is disabled for now. There's no coming or going right now."

Then the man smiled and looked directly at Chuck. "Besides…why would you want to leave the island?" he asked.

"Yes Chuck, why would we want to leave the island? Everything we want is right here on the island," Sarah immediately agreed.

Chuck looked at Sarah and then at the dock worker. "Uhhhh…OK…is there another ferry or another way to get off the island?" Chuck asked.

"Afraid not," the man replied. "But we hope to have repairs done soon. Why don't you just come back in a couple of hours and then we can get you over to L.A. OK?"

"Ooookaaaaayy," Chuck said slowly. The dock worker smiled and walked away. Chuck sighed and gripped the steering wheel tightly to keep from slamming his fist in frustration. The dock worker stopped and turned to look back. Chuck quickly put the car in reverse, backed up, turned around and drove out of the ferry landing area.

As the car left, the dock worker pulled out a cell phone and quickly punched in a number.

"I got one. A man, dark hair, in his middle, late 20s. He had a blonde and a young girl in the car with him. The blonde was controlled but he wasn't. She called him Chuck. Yeah, that's him. They just left and they're going down Main Street."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Chuck tried not to panic as he drove away from the ferry. He glanced over at Sarah who looked very calm. She smiled at him. "What now sweetie? Would you like to go to the beach and take a walk? It's such a beautiful day and it would be a shame to waste it by staying indoors," she said.

Before Chuck could answer, Sarah leaned toward the back seat and asked Sallie, "What do you say Sallie? Want to go the beach and play in the sand?" Sallie squealed an enthusiastic yes.

"Well that settles that. Head for the beach Chuck," Sarah directed him.

"What?" Chuck said. He hadn't been listening at all to what Sarah and Sallie said. His mind had been racing, trying to think of what to do, where they could go.

"The beach, Chuck, the beach. Head for the beach," she said.

He looked at her blankly, not sure how to respond. Then a siren blared briefly from behind them. Chuck looked in the rear view mirror and spotted a police car behind them.

"Busted," he muttered and pulled the car over to the right side of the street and stopped.

"Were you speeding?" Sarah asked, puzzled.

"You have no idea," Chuck sighed and rolled down his window as the police officer walked up.

The officer gazed at Chuck. "Good afternoon Mr. Bartowski, Mrs. Bartowski." Chuck's mouth suddenly felt dry, his mind suddenly went blank and he found himself speechless.

"Hello officer," Sarah greeted brightly. "Were we speeding?"

"Oh no, no. It's just that I noticed something wrong here on the back of your car. You may have something broken. Mr. Bartowski, step out here and let me show you," he said. Although the officer smiled at Chuck, his eyes were hard and narrow and demanded compliance. Chuck unbuckled his seatbelt, opened the door and hesitantly stepped outside of the car.

The officer gripped his shoulder and directed him to the rear of the car. "Right down here sir," he said as the grip on Chuck's shoulder tightened and pushed him down to a crouching position near the rear bumper of the car. The officer crouched down alongside Chuck and affixed him with a hard look.

"Want to leave the island?" he asked.

"Huh?" Chuck said.

"Yep, we thought so," the officer said. He gazed at Chuck for a moment, studying him. Then he shook his head. "Here's the thing Mr. Bartowski – OK if I call you Chuck? Here's the thing, Chuck. You know and I know that you're not under control right now. You're yourself – AGAIN!" He paused and looked at Chuck with an incredulous expression on his face. "How are you doing this? How are you –" He stopped talking, bit the bottom of his lip. "Well, it doesn't matter. What matters is that we need to get you back under control. So right now, you are going to do exactly what I tell you to do, OK? And if you don't—"

"Something bad will happen to me," Chuck finished.

The officer grinned. "Oh no, not to you." He looked toward the car, in Sarah's direction. "You wouldn't want anything happen to her, would you?"

"Don't hurt her, I'll cooperate. Just don't hurt her," Chuck immediately responded.

"Nothing will happen to her just as long as you do exactly what I tell you to do," the officer said. He then gave Chuck instructions to tell Sarah that something was wrong with the car and he needed to take it to the island's car repair shop down the road. He would stay with the car at the repair shop while the officer would give her and Sallie a ride home. Chuck nodded and got back into the car.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"That's nice of the officer to be so helpful," Sarah said brightly after Chuck told her what he was doing and why he was driving to the car repair shop.

"Yeah, yeah, really nice," Chuck said trying to remain calm. Mentally, he was cursing himself for failing to find a way out of here, to get them out of this prison, this mess. If only I was a real agent like Sarah or Casey, he thought. They would have found a way. He felt miserable.

"Hey," Sarah exclaimed and reached over and stroked the back of his head and neck. "Don't look so sad. It's just some repairs on our car. It's not the end of the world."

"I hope not, I hope not," Chuck replied as he pulled into the parking lot of the car repair shop with the police car following right behind him.

They got out of the car, as did the officer. "Mrs. Bartowski, you and your daughter just wait right here. The owner of the shop is a friend of mine and I'll go in with your husband and make sure that he gets taken care of. Then I'll come right back out and take the two of you home," he said.

"Thank you very much officer," Sarah replied.

The officer walked Chuck into the building. They went past the counter into a back room where three men waited.

"Sit down," one of the men commanded and pointed at the chair in front of them. Chuck sat down.

"OK guys, you have this situation in hand. I'll now go take the other two home. Be seeing you!" the officer said and departed.

One of the three men, a tall one with long black hair walked around and faced Chuck. He carried an attaché case and set it on a workbench and opened it. Chuck gazed at his face and then flashed. He saw the man working in a lab, on an operating table, and out in some field. Then he saw the man's face on reports and printouts and a name appeared in his mind – Dr. Anthony Skene, Fulcrum scientist.

Dr. Skene looked at Chuck with an intense and angry expression. His eyes darted back and forth and he seemed frustrated. "How…what…how are you doing this?" Dr Skene sputtered. "How are you doing this? How do you do it? How? HOW?"

Dr. Skene shook his head, swept one hand through his hair and paced back and forth in front of Chuck. He held his hands up and pointed with them as he talked, went over things, as if he was discussing something with an invisible audience.

"This is…you've…five, six times we've put you through this process and you keep…you resist it, you beat it, you somehow get back to normal. But how? How? At first we thought it was just one of those anomalies, those rare cases that occur. But yet, you keep occurring. We've increased the level the last few times but you still…we could increase the level again. Yes, yes, that's it. We've just increased the level slightly but this time we will increase it more, much more. Yes, yes, we'll do that, we'll do that."

Then Dr. Skene reached over to the case, pulled out a syringe and then loaded it with a clear liquid. He turned toward Chuck. "We will get you under control again. We will get you under control. By hook or by crook, we will!" he said with a triumphant look as he moved toward Chuck with the syringe. One man got on each side of Chuck and tightly gripped each arm. The doctor injected Chuck. A few minutes later, Chuck felt drowsy and then everything went black.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"You were told to stay away from the Walker and Bartowski subjects."

"I was promised that Chuck would be mine," Jill replied.

"You know that the situation with your former boy friend changed. We needed to keep them together. We could see that the two had very strong feelings toward one another. When we separated them, the Walker subject became very angry and concerned. We determined that it would go better if the Walker subject was paired with the Bartowski subject. You know that. But you have tried to spend time with and even confront both the Bartowski and Walker subjects. You have even tried to have the Bartowski subject moved closer to you at work. You were told to stay away from them and yet you have persisted in this … this stalking."

"I was promised that Chuck would be mine," Jill repeated.

"He will be after we are successful with the Walker subject."

"I don't want Chuck near her. You don't understand, you don't realize … the two of them together, it … it … it's not going to work if you keep them together. Just look at what has happened with Chuck so far. You need to separate them, you need to get him away from her and put him with me, like I was promised."

"We have our orders and you have yours. The Bartowski subject will be yours when this is done. So until then, you are to stay away from both of them."

**END CHAPTER FOUR**


	5. Happy Anniversary!

**CHUCK VS. THE GOOD & NORMAL & WONDERFUL LIFE**

**SUMMARY:** Chuck and Sarah have a wonderful marriage and daughter and live the normal life in a good house at a good island community. Or do they?????

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own "Chuck."

**NOTE:** I hope you enjoy this chapter. In the next chapter, it all starts to unravel! And please review, please review, PLEASE!

-

**CHAPTER FIVE – HAPPY ANNIVERSARY**

Sarah was quiet as she drove Chuck to work in the morning a few days later. She didn't attempt to make any conversation nor did she respond much to Chuck's questions or comments. She concentrated on the driving and rarely glanced in his direction.

Chuck suppressed a laugh. But at the same time, he was a little concerned that he was hurting her feelings. He knew what was going on. She thought he had forgotten their anniversary. Today was the day. Six years ago, they had gotten married. When he wandered out to the kitchen this morning after showering and getting ready for work, Sarah was all smiles and looked expectantly at him. He greeted her with a kiss and then turned to Sallie who was seated at the table eating some cereal. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that Sarah still expected him to say something or pull out a gift. But he kept mum as he had a surprise in store for her later.

As they ate breakfast and he never brought up the subject, she turned quieter and colder until by the time they were headed out the door of their home, she was not speaking to him at all. And the silent treatment continued in the car on the way to work.

They were almost to Fulcrumatic and Chuck hoped that his surprise would make up for pretending that he forgot. Sarah pulled the car up to the front walkway of Fulcrumatic and put the car in park. She said nothing.

"OK then, thanks for the lift," Chuck said as he unbuckled his seat belt and grabbed his case. "I'll see you this afternoon. Have a great day." He leaned foward her for a kiss. Sarah also leaned forward but at the last second, turned her head, giving Chuck her cheek to kiss instead of lips. She remained silent and Chuck pretended not to notice.

He got out of the car, shut the front door, and opened the back door and leaned in and kissed their daughter goodbye. "See you later Sallie," he said to the little girl.

"Bye daddy."

Then Chuck turned to Sarah who looked coldly at him. He smiled.

"And by the way, I didn't forget. Happy anniversary!"

Sarah reacted with pleasure and annoyance at the same time. "Was this a joke or something? I was really upset you know," she said.

"I know you were and I'm sorry for that. But I wanted to surprise you."

"Surprise me with what?" she asked.

He moved his head a little to the right, indicating for her to look in the front seat. "Happy anniversary! I love you!" he said. And with that, he shut the passenger door and walked towards the Fulcumatic building entrance.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The second Chuck stepped off of the elevator on the 10th floor, his cell phone rang. He looked at the screen. A picture of Sarah was there.

"Hey Sarah!" he answered.

"Happy anniversary! And I love you too," his wife purred. "And they're beautiful. I love them! Thank you so much!"

He had gotten her diamond earrings for their anniversary. He thought that she would like them and evidently, she did.

"How did you pick these out?" she asked.

"Come on Sarah, it's not hard for me to buy for you. You're so beautiful that anything would look fantastic on you," Chuck replied as he walked down the corridor to his office.

"You're sweet. I wish we were together right now so that I could show my appreciation to you."

"Wow, talk about motivation to skip out early today."

"Could you?" Sarah asked.

"Could I what?"

"Leave early today? I could make it worth your while. Sallie could go to day care and we could go out to dinner or do some … some other things. Or do both," she said suggestively.

Chuck smiled at the prospect of an early afternoon with his wife." "I'll see what I can do. Let me call you back, OK?"

"OK. I love you!"

"I love you!" Chuck said and hung up the phone.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

At 3pm, Chuck walked toward the elevator, heading out early for the day. As he figured, leaving a couple of hours before quitting time wasn't any problem. He called Sarah as soon as he got the go-ahead and told her that yes, he could leave early. She cheerfully replied that she would pick him at three after she dropped off Sallie at day care. And after that, they could have some fun, she seductively noted.

Chuck pressed the down button for the elevator and waited. Seconds later, the bell rang and the doors opened. He started to get on but bumped into someone walking out of the elevator.

"Sorry," Chuck apologized, "I was in too much a hurry."

"It's all right, no harm," a tall, light-haired man replied as he looked at Chuck.

And suddenly, Chuck saw that man inside his mind doing things – shooting a machine gun while dressed in camouflage fatigues in some desert, killing people at a restaurant, in a bank shooting people with a pistol with a silencer on it, and a list of "Top Ten Most Wanted" with the man's name and photo on it.

"Ron Grainer, domestic terrorist, wanted for 22 murders, multiple counts of bank robbery, terrorism, kidnapping, extortion, forgery, burglary, assault. Also known as 'The Schizoid Man,'" Chuck muttered. Grainer, who had already walked on, did not hear what Chuck said.

The images and the words stunned Chuck. He did not understand what happened. He shook his head and tried to figure it out. He was so distracted that it was a few moments before he realized that he had missed his elevator. He pushed the down button again and kept shaking his head, trying to clear those images out of his mind.

The elevator bell rang and the doors opened. Chuck stepped on, pushed the first floor button. "Maybe I'm working too hard," he said to himself as the elevator traveled downward.

The elevator reached the first floor, the bell rang and the doors opened. Chuck stepped out and walked toward the front door.

"You out of here Chuck?" Lois, the receptionist, asked.

Chuck stopped, turned back toward Lois. "Yeah it's my anniversary and Sarah and I are planning to go out tonight."

"Oh! How nice! You too have a good time, OK?"

"We will. Thank you." Chuck started to walk away and then stopped. "Hey Lois?"

"Yes Chuck?"

"You haven't seen any … any bad guys come through here, have you?"

Lois looked at him strangely. "Bad guys?"

"You know … people who look like they should be on wanted posters …." Chuck started to elaborate but decided that he was already sounding weird enough. So he tried to come up with some explanation but Lois did that for him.

"You mean like Miss Roberts?" she joked.

Chuck laughed. "Good one Lois," he said and headed toward the front door.

Sarah had not arrived yet, so Chuck waited at the front walkway. A few seconds later, a car pulled into the lot but it was not Sarah. After the car parked, a man in his forties stepped out. It was David Tomblin, president of Fulcrumatic.

"Hello Chuck," Tomblin said as he walked up.

"Hi Mr. Tomblin, how are you?"

"Fine, fine. I understand somebody has an anniversary today. Congratulations."

"Yes sir, sure do. Our sixth," Chuck replied.

"Excellent. You have a good time now. Be seeing you," Tomblin said and he waved at Chuck as he walked away.

And as he waved, Tomblin's coat sleeve traveled down his arm slightly and Chuck got a glimpse of a tattoo of some sort of bird.

"Snowbird," Chuck exclaimed and all sorts of images of Tomblin appeared in his mind. "Oh no, not again," Chuck groaned and he shut his eyes to try to blot out what he was seeing.

"CHUCK!" Tomblin yelled and looked back at him.

"Yes sir?" Chuck said and shook his head as the images stopped.

"What did you say?"

Chuck suddenly felt as if he had awakened from some dream or nightmare. He wasn't sure which. He looked around and suddenly wondered where he was. He was in Portmeirion Village on an island and working for the Fulcrumatic company. But I don't work for Fulcrumatic, I work for BuyMore. What the heck is going on here? he thought.

"Chuck!" Tomblin said as he walked up to where Chuck was standing.

Chuck turned and found himself face-to-face with a Fulcrum agent. And then Chuck remembered.

"Chuck, what did you say?" Tomblin asked.

"Nothing, sir … I was just … just humming and singing a tune … that's probably what you heard … just my singing," Chuck stammered and he even hummed and sang a few words to emphasize that. He heard a car drive up. He looked. Sarah had arrived. "I have to go sir. There's my ride. See you later," Chuck said as he rushed to the car, jerked open the door and hopped in.

The car pulled away and Tomblin watched it with an angry expression on his face. Then he pulled out his cell phone and made a call. "We may have a problem," he said as soon as a voice answered. "It may be Bartowski – again."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

As soon as he got in the car, Chuck glanced back at Tomblin and kept his eyes on him. "Fulcrum …" he mumbled. "He's Fulcrum … we were captured by Fulcrum … and they, they …."

"Sweetie?"

"WHOA!" Chuck yelled and jerked his head toward Sarah.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," Sarah said. "A bit anxious … are we?" And then she smiled and arched her eyebrows.

"Huh? What?" And then he remembered that they were married. No … wait a minute … they weren't married but they had been acting like they were married, he thought. Why had they been acting like they were married? Were they undercover?

He tried to think clearly but everything that had gone on previously was hitting him like a tidal wave. So many memories were flooding his mind.

OK, think Bartowski, think, he emphasized to himself.

He tried to recall what happened. He, Sarah, and Casey were on a mission and … when was that? It was … what … a couple of weeks ago? They were on a mission and something had gone wrong. It had been a setup, a trap. He and Sarah had been captured and Casey had escaped. And then he and Sarah were taken … they had been taken to this island. And then? Then, Sarah and I … we … we ….

Chuck's eyes went wide and his jaw dropped. We woke up in bed in that house and we … we were married and we had a daughter, he thought. We really thought we were married and we … we … oh my God … we … Sarah and I … in bed together … we ….

He turned his head and looked at Sarah. She noticed his look and grinned.

"My you look wild. I like that," she purred.

She had just pulled the car into the driveway of their house. No, wait a minute, this isn't really our house, it's a fake, Chuck thought. Sarah put the car in park, shut off the engine, undid her seat belt, and turned to Chuck with a smile on her face.

"Before we go out to dinner, I needed to stop at home. I forgot my purse. Come inside and help me look?" she asked.

Chuck nodded. Inside … that's good … I can talk to her inside and try to tell her that we're in danger, that we need to leave, get out here, he thought. He studied her as they got out of the car and walked to the front door of the house. She's still brainwashed or converted or whatever, he realized. How did I snap out of it? How did I do that? How can I get Sarah back to normal?

They stepped inside the house. Sarah shut and locked the door and walked down the hallway. Chuck stood there, wildly looking around the house. What to do? What to do? What to do? he repeated to himself. He had to talk to Sarah and convince her to leave, to get out of here. If he could do that, he decided, then maybe somebody with the CIA or NSA could revert her back to her normal self. But how could he convince her to leave?

"Chuck," Sarah called from down the hallway.

"Yeah, yeah?" he yelled.

"Could you come to the bedroom please and help me?"

Chuck walked rapidly to the bedroom. Gotta talk to her, gotta convince her that we need to leave, gotta talk to her, he said to himself.

He stepped into the bedroom and was surprised to find it empty – no Sarah. Then he felt hands grasp his shoulders from behind. Then the hands traveled down his arms and wrapped around his chest and pulled him back. Sarah pressed her body against his back and then nibbled on his right ear from behind. Her lips traveled from his ear lobe and down to his neck.

"I have been thinking about you and this ALL day," she whispered seductively as her lips traveled up and down and around his neck.

"Uhhhhh … Sarah … we … we … we need to talk," Chuck said. It took a lot of effort and concentration just to say that. Sarah's lips on his neck, cheek and ear and her hands rubbing up and down his chest, were really getting to him. His knees begin to feel weak.

Suddenly, her hands grasped his shoulders tightly and he was spun around. Chuck gasped, his jaw dropped, and his eyes bulged wide open. Sarah was wearing incredibly sexy and fantastic looking black lingerie – an outfit with very skimpy bra and panties that didn't leave much for the imagination, along with a garter belt and stockings that fit her fantastic legs oh so well.

She shoved him back onto the bed and sat on top of him. "We can talk after," she declared. Then her hands and her lips were all over him. Chuck could feel buttons coming undone and pulling and tugging on his clothes. He didn't know how she did it but within seconds, his shoes were untied and thrown aside, his shirt was undone and off, his T-shirt was up and her lips were all over his chest as her hands traveled downward and started undoing his pants.

"Sarah, Sarah, wait, wait, wait," he said as he tried to grab her hands. She grasped his head with both her hands and leaned her face down right into his. "I've been waiting all day. And I'm not going to wait any longer. It's our anniversary and we're celebrating. We're making love right now and then we're going out to dinner. Any objections Mr. Bartowski?" she said.

God, she felt incredible and he recalled the times that they had made love while both of them were under the brainwashing. He could remember how wonderful it felt. And now, here was Sarah on top of him, ready to make love again. But this wasn't right. She wasn't herself and he was. Those past times they had both been under the brainwashing and they couldn't help what they did. But now, he could. He couldn't have Sarah this way, he couldn't take advantage of this. This wasn't Sarah, the real Sarah, his Sarah. He had to stop this.

"Sarah! Wait! Wait!" he said as he tried to grab her hands which had his pants undone and were pulling the clothing downward. Then Sarah slid her whole body down on top of him. She grasped his hands and directed them to her body. Chuck couldn't even get a chance to speak any more because her lips constantly mashed his passionately and hotly.

This isn't right, this isn't Sarah, Chuck tried to tell himself. But Sarah didn't stop and soon Chuck didn't want her to stop. Any resistance he had was gone. He loved Sarah and he wanted her. As he started kissing her back with equal passion and intensity, he hoped that when they got out of all this and were back home, that she would understand and forgive him for being weak, being unable to resist.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"And you sure that it is Mr. Bartowski's vehicle?" General Beckman asked John Casey from the monitor in the Castle conference room.

"Affirmative general," Casey responded.

Early this morning, Bartowski's Nerd Herd vehicle that the trio had traveled in on that mission that turned out to be a Fulcrum ambush had been located. Some scuba divers had spotted the car during an underwater outing yesterday afternoon and reported it to the police. It had been recovered today and the police had positively identified it as the car.

"And nothing was found in the vehicle?" Beckman asked.

Nothing was correct. Casey speculated that Fulcrum agents had emptied it of everything and then torched it and dumped it in the bay. The burn marks were still evident on the car but some tell-tale partial Nerd Herd logos could still be seen. In one respect, the car being empty was good in that there weren't any bodies in it, as in Chuck and Sarah's. But the car being empty was also bad in that there weren't any clues to help them.

"And so we still have no idea as to where Agent Walker and Mr. Bartowski might be? Or even if they are alive?" Beckman asked.

"That's correct, ma'am."

Beckman was quiet for a moment. Her face was impassive and unemotional as ever. Casey didn't have a clue as to what she was thinking. But he noticed that she had been referring to Chuck as "Mr. Bartowski" and not "The Intersect" as she often did. In fact, she had referred to him by his name during this whole conversation. Could the old bird actually be concerned about Bartowski? Casey wondered. Then she finally spoke.

"Have you notified Mr. Bartowski's sister about this latest development?"

"No general, I haven't. I didn't think it would be a good idea for that news to come from me as Ellie may wonder how I found out before she did. But I did tell the police that she needed to be informed about this," Casey explained.

Beckman nodded and said nothing more.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Chuck opened his eyes and felt Sarah lying on top of him. She was naked and snuggled in close to him and her arms were around him. He had his arms wrapped around her too. He wondered what time it was, how long they had been asleep. He tried to leave her embrace but she sighed, gripped tighter and moved closer.

God, she feels incredible, he thought. Then he tried to mentally slap and kick himself and feel guilty and ashamed for what he had just done. He had taken advantage of the situation; he had taken advantage of Sarah's mental state to make love with her, he berated himself. Sarah had been brainwashed into thinking that the two of them were married, that it was their anniversary and to celebrate that. She had not been in control. But I was and I shouldn't have let this happen, Chuck thought.

But while a part of him felt guilty over what happened, another part of him felt elated. Making love with Sarah had been wonderful, above and beyond anything he had imagined and fantasized. She had seemed to enjoy it too if the moans of pleasure that she had made during it were any indication. But he still felt that it hadn't been right. Oh God, she is probably going to kick my ass and then kill me when we get out of here and she remembers all of this, Chuck groaned silently.

He tried to figure out what was going on? What was Fulcrum doing? He couldn't recall any of the actual brainwashing procedure but he could remember everything that had happened during this fake marriage. It had been just like a normal life, like he and Sarah were two normal people who had been living and raising a daughter on this island for years.

What is going on? Why are they doing this? Why did they brainwash us into believing that we're married and give us a kid? Chuck thought.

He had to do something, he had to get Sarah out of here. But how? Then he heard a hissing noise. He lifted up his head and looked. It was coming from somewhere in the room. It wasn't an air conditioner or heater … it was a …. What is that? he thought. It sounded like it was coming from the left, over on Sarah's side of the bed. Then, suddenly, he could smell and see something.

Is that smoke? Is the house on fire? he thought almost panicking. Then it hit him. It was gas. Some sort of gas was being put into the room. He quickly pulled the sheet over his and Sarah's head. "Sarah!" he yelled as he shook her. She didn't stir. Her head had been closer to the gas and evidently it had already gotten to her.

What to do? What to do? What to do? Chuck thought in a panic. He reached out and pulled a pillow down under the covers and got the pillow case off of it. He wrapped it around his mouth and nose, like a mask and popped out from under the covers. He kept Sarah covered with the sheet, hoping that would help her. He stood up from the bed and grabbed a pillow and looked over on Sarah's side of the bed.

On the wall, toward the floorboard, was some sort of nozzle from which the gas was seeping. Chuck rushed over there and pressed the pillow against it, trying to jam it. The flow of gas abated. He ran to a window and pulled it open. Then he ran to the light switch at the front of the room and turned on the ceiling fan. He started back toward the bed to get Sarah but was suddenly stopped by a hard and firm grip on his shoulder. The grip tightened and turned him around.

Standing before him was large man wearing a gas mask. "Remove that pillow, close the window and get that ceiling fan turned off. Quickly!" the man commanded as he ripped off the pillow case from Chuck's face and then tightly gripped both of Chuck's arms.

Chuck tried to struggle, tried to free himself but he could hardly move. The man was too strong.

Three more men wearing gas masks came into the bedroom. They very quickly and very efficiently carried out the man's orders. Soon the gas was coming back into the room in full force. The man holding Chuck then pushed him over to the nozzle and placed his face directly in front of it and into the gas coming out. Chuck felt woozy, the room started spinning and then everything went black.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Ellie Bartowski sat on the edge of the bed in Chuck's room and looked around. I will not cry, I will not cry, I will not cry, she kept repeating to herself as her eyes took in all – the posters and art on the wall; the books, videogames, DVDs, and CDs on the shelves, the computer desk, the clothes and other items. Chuck things, she thought.

And she did manage to avoid crying as she looked at everything that Chuck had in his room. At least she did until her eyes came upon the photograph of Chuck and Sarah together, smiling and looking so happy.

I will not cry, I will not cry, I will not cry, she willed. And yet she did. She bent her head down and used her hand to try to wipe away the tears. She almost made it this time, she thought. She almost managed to do a complete 360 degree scan of Chuck's room and not cry. Ever since Chuck and Sarah's disappearance, she had spent a lot of time sitting in his room, missing him and Sarah and wondering if they were safe. She always tried to stress the word safe instead of alive or dead.

It had been over three weeks since they disappeared. Ellie well remembered that day. Chuck and Sarah were about to head out from the apartment in the early evening hours for their date. Chuck kissed Ellie's cheek and said "See you later sis." He then turned toward Sarah who was standing nearby. Ellie watched the two of them from where she sat on the couch. They smiled at each other. Chuck started to follow Sarah out the door, then stopped and turned back to Ellie. "Oh, I'll probably be out really late. So please don't worry," he said. Ellie heard him but she hadn't looked at him as he said that. Instead, she had been watching Sarah who had all eyes on Chuck. Her expression took on all sorts of emotions – caring, adoration, fondness, longing and wanting. And in that moment, Ellie could clearly see that Sarah was in love with Chuck.

It had thrilled Ellie. She thought that her baby brother had finally found the one. And then, Chuck and Sarah never returned or came back from their date that evening. They had disappeared. And since then, no sign or trace of either one of them.

Until today.

The police had called her a while ago. Chuck's car, the Nerd Herd vehicle that Sarah and Chuck traveled in on their date, had been found in the bay. The car was brought to the surface. Evidence of fire damage was apparent and the car was taken to police forensics. They found nothing.

No bodies. No blood stains. No personal belongs. No nothing. Chuck and Sarah could still be alive and Ellie held onto that hope. But the idea that someone had gone to such measures to remove any traces of Sarah and Chuck from the car, then burn it and dump it in the water, worried Ellie that foul play or some sort of violence had occurred.

The tears were gushing from her eyes now. No, no, no, no, she said to herself. I will not give up, I will not give up.

"Babe?"

Ellie looked up and saw Devon standing in the doorway. He walked over to the bed, sat down beside her, put his arm around her shoulders and held her close.

"I guess you heard," Ellie said between sobs.

"Yeah, I did. That's why I'm here. I wanted to be here for you."

"I'm glad you're here," she said to Devon as she leaned closer against him and then embraced him and put her head against his chest.

"Babe, we're not going to give up. There weren't any bodies in the car. So there's still hope."

"I know, I know. I'm not giving up, I'm not giving up. And I'm not crying, I'm not crying, I'm not crying," Ellie replied.

But she was. And she couldn't stop. Devon held her closer.

**END CHAPTER FIVE**


	6. What Do You Mean?

**CHUCK VS. THE GOOD & NORMAL & WONDERFUL LIFE**

**SUMMARY:** Chuck and Sarah have a wonderful marriage and daughter and live the normal life in a good house at a good island community. Or do they?????

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own "Chuck."

**NOTE: **Pleasereview! I enjoy reading your comments about my story!

-

**CHAPTER SIX – WHAT DO YOU MEAN?**

Chuck glanced up from his plate of scramble eggs, sausage and blueberry muffin and looked at his daughter and wife. Sallie was munching on cereal and Sarah was eating from her plate of eggs, sausage and muffin. Noticing that her husband was watching her, Sarah, smiled, shook her hair back and tilted up her head slightly to show off the earrings that she was wearing.

They were the diamond earrings that he had given her for their wedding anniversary last week. "They look great on you," Chuck said as he smiled back at her. And then he added, "But heck, you're so beautiful that anything would look great on you."

Sarah beamed and thanked him. "Well, I love them. And I love you. They were a wonderful gift," she said.

"For a wonderful and fantastic lady," Chuck said.

"Given to me by a wonderful and fantastic man," she said.

"Gosh, six years and listen to us," Chuck mused. "It sure doesn't seem like six years. It has been so much fun that it seems like the time has zoomed by. It seems more like just a couple of weeks instead of six years."

"Weeks? Don't you mean a couple of years instead of weeks?" Sarah asked.

"Did I say weeks?"

Sarah nodded. He did say weeks, he realized. Yes, their six years of marriage had zoomed by but it had certainly been more than a couple of weeks. Why did he say weeks?

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

After breakfast, Sarah said that she had lots of "chores and things" to do around the house and suggested that Chuck drive himself to work this morning.

"Are you sure you won't need the car?" he asked.

"Positive."

"OK, then I'll see you this afternoon," Chuck said. He wrapped his arms around his wife and kissed her. Sarah happily returned the kiss.

Then he leaned down to Sallie who was still seated at the table and kissed her cheek. "Bye Sallie."

"Bye daddy," Sallie said.

"I love you both," Chuck said as he walked out the door.

"And we love you too," Sarah said.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The morning at Fulcrumatic turned out to be a busy one for Chuck. When he walked into his office, he found three computer problems awaiting him. So the instant he arrived, he had to dash off to take care of those. The first problem wasn't too difficult. One of the programmer's CPU had a bad USB connection. Chuck replaced it and that took care of that.

Then he went to the second problem, the computer for one of the Fulcrumatic executive's secretary. Every time she tried to save a file in the word processing program, a pop up screen appeared saying that there was a sharing violation and then deleted the file that needed to be saved. The secretary was angry, frustrated and desperately wanted Chuck to fix things.

Which Chuck managed to do. It proved to be a very troublesome issue and took almost an hour but he solved the problem. The secretary thanked him profusely and was so grateful to be able save files without them getting destroyed. That done, Chuck went to the third problem which was the computer in one of the manager's office.

Chuck went down to the seventh floor, turned right from the elevator, and walked through the hallway to George Markstein's office. The door was open. Chuck knocked, walked in and called out the manager's name.

"Mr. Markstein? I understand you're having some computer problems," he said as he glanced around in the office.

The room was empty. Mr. Markstein was not in. Might as well go ahead and look at the computer while I'm here, Chuck thought. Maybe I can figure out what the problem is without waiting for Mr. Markstein.

He walked over to the desk and his eyes spotted a small figurine of a leopard with a red stain on its back. His eyes locked on the statue and then images filled his brain. A man standing in a room with trophy heads of leopards on the wall, some explosions, the same man holding a machete while standing in front of an arsenal of different weapons, the man chopping up people with the machete and then that statue of the leopard and the name, George Markstein.

And when the images stopped, Chuck stood quietly in the empty office and realized that once again he was free of the brainwashing that Fulcrum had done to him.

"Well, Cooler King and Number Six, shall we try to escape again?" he said out loud.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Chuck walked down the hallway to the elevator. Keep calm, remain calm, he kept telling himself. No one saw you flash, no one knows that you are yourself. Keep calm, act like nothing is going on.

He pressed the down elevator button and waited. He glanced down the hallway in both directions. He spotted a few people but no one gave him a second glance. So far so good, he thought. He glanced up at the elevator floor indicator. The second floor light was on and remained on. The elevator was stopped at the second floor.

Come on, come on, hurry, he muttered to himself.

The light changed from two to three, then three to four, and kept changing. It finally flashed to seven, the bell rang and the doors opened. Chuck dashed in and quickly tapped the ground floor button multiple times.

CALM DOWN! he chastized himself. He stood up straight, took a deep breath and tried to look normal.

The doors closed and the elevator moved downward. It seemed to take forever to Chuck and then he almost moaned out loud when the elevator stopped at the fourth floor and the doors opened. A man stepped in. "Hey Chuck," he greeted.

"Hey, hey, how's it going?" Chuck responded trying to keep the panic out of his voice and trying not to look at the man for fear that he would flash and arouse suspicion.

"Hanging in there, how about you?"

"Fine, fine, just fine, fine," Chuck said and reminded himself to remain calm and act natural. The bell rang and the doors opened to the third floor.

"Be seeing you!" the man said as he walked out of the elevator.

"Yeah, yeah, see you later," Chuck said as he reached over to the elevator panel and pressed the ground floor button to try to hurry the closing of the doors and the elevator's descent. "And for crying out loud, is it really necessary for you to use the elevator just to travel one floor? Use the stairs and get some exercise you lazy jerk," he muttered once the man was out earshot.

The elevator descended and Chuck mentally prayed that it wouldn't stop any more. He breathed a sigh of relief and mumbled a "Thank you!" when the ground floor light came on, the bell rang and the elevator doors opened.

He almost ran out but managed to stop himself. Calm, calm and natural, he thought. He stepped out of the elevator. And collided with Jill Roberts who was carrying some notebooks along with her purse. The collision made her drop everything.

"Chuck!" she said.

"Hey! Hey Jill! Sorry about that, so sorry," he responded and immediately bent down to gather up the notebooks. He quickly stacked the two notebooks, put her purse on top of them and handed the pile to her. "Here you go. So sorry again. I should have looked before I leaped," he said.

"Oh that's all right," Jill replied. She took the notebooks and purse with both hands and then shifted the pile to her left hand. She smiled at him. "Where are you going?" she asked.

"Uhhhh … where am I going … uhhhhh … I'm going … going home. That's it, I'm going home. I'm not feeling too good. I think I got some bad food this morning for breakfast and I'm going home to lie down. Nothing serious I don't think. I just need to go home. So I'm going home. I'll just go on home and lie down," he said. And then he started to walk away but Jill blocked his path and looked concerned.

"Maybe you should go to the doctor. Do you have a fever?" she asked. Then she reached out to feel his forehead with her free hand. And for a split second, the thought of Jill, the Fulcrumatic agent who almost killed Sarah, touching him made Chuck panic. He managed to prevent himself from jumping back in fright but he could not stop the revulsion and nervousness as her hand moved toward his face. He tried to squelch those feelings and hoped that his face didn't show them.

Jill hesitated. Did she notice his look as her hand came toward him? he wondered. She looked quizzically at him. He forced a smile. Jill smiled back and then touched his forehead.

He tried to remain calm and keep from panicking as her hand lingered on his forehead for some time.

"You are hot," Jill said softly. "Are you OK to drive? Would you like me to take you home and get you to bed?" Her eyes seemed to promise much more.

"No, no, I can drive, I can drive OK," Chuck stammered as he slowly moved back out of Jill's reach and walked around her to leave. "See you tomorrow."

He walked away from Jill and then jumped when Lois, the secretary/receptionist called his name.

"Yeah Lois?" he said, trying to steady his voice.

"So you're going home sick? You're out for the rest of the day?" Lois asked.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going home sick. I don't feel good, so I'm going home sick right now. I'll be gone for the rest of the day. I'm going home sick."

"OK, I hope you feel better Chuck," Lois said.

"Thank you, thank you," he said. He turned and tried to walk slowly and calmly towards the front door as Jill and Lois watched.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The tires almost squealed as Chuck braked the car after rapidly pulling into the driveway of their home, #6 McGoohan Drive. Fake home, he amended to himself as he jerked off the seatbelt and then looked around the neighborhood and down the street.

After walking out of the Fulcrumatic building, he had to will himself to not run to the car and then speed out of the parking lot. It was difficult because every thought, every action and every impulse inside of him was on getting to this house and getting Sarah and Sallie – or whatever the name of the kid that Fulcrum had brainwashed into being their daughter was – out of here. He hadn't noticed or seen any kind of pursuit as he drove toward this place, this house, this … he kept trying to think of alternatives to home. He just couldn't bring himself to call it home because it was all fake, all unreal, all part of some devious plot or plan to control him and Sarah.

He looked again outside the car windows in all directions. He didn't see any cars coming down the street nor did he see any neighbors or pedestrians watching or wandering around. He still got out of the car cautiously and glanced rapidly from side to side as he tried to look casual as he walked up to the front porch, up the steps, unlocked the door, and strolled into the house.

The second the door shut, he locked the doorknob and deadbolted the door. He turned toward the living room. Sallie sat on the couch watching television.

"Hi daddy!" she said brightly.

"Hi Sallie," he replied. "Is Sar—is mommy here?"

Sallie nodded. Then Sarah popped out from the kitchen. "Hey sweetie," she greeted happily. "You're home early, this is a nice surprise."

Oh my God, Chuck thought as he looked at Sarah. He had to shake his head in astonishment. Sarah, the CIA agent, bodyguard and assassin, was actually wearing an apron that said "Kiss the cook!" and holding and stirring a bowl full of batter. Meet the happy homemaker, Chuck thought. If Casey ever found about this, he'd never let Sarah live this down.

He turned to Sallie "Sallie, stay in here and keep watching television. I need to talk to Sar—to mommy for a while. And don't answer the door if anyone knocks or rings the doorbell, OK? Don't answer the door!"

Sallie nodded in agreement as Chuck rushed over to Sarah, grabbed one of her shoulders and guided her into the kitchen. He took the bowl from her hands, set it on the counter, and then grabbed her by both shoulders and looked at her. Sarah stared back at him, concerned.

"We don't have much time and this is going to sound totally crazy. But we have to leave, we have to get out of here now!" Chuck told her.

Sarah didn't say anything for a moment. She looked at him strangely. "Chuck, what is it? What's wrong? What's going on?"

"We have to take Sallie and go now. We have to get out of here. We're in danger and we need to leave now," he said.

Then she looked scared. "Chuck … why … what's going on?"

He gripped her shoulders a little tighter and shook his head. How could he convince her, how could he get both her and Sallie into a car and get them going? He tried to ignore the panic that had been building up inside him. He had no idea if anybody knew that he was normal right nor if there was anyone coming to stop him. But he did know that they needed to do something, to get out of here. But how could he convince Sarah to do that?

"Do you trust me?"

"Of course I trust you Chuck," she replied firmly.

"I need you to trust me now when I tell you that we have to leave here, we have to go … we have to go now! We're in danger and we have to get out of here!"

Chuck, I trust you but you're scaring me. What is wrong? What is going on? Why do we need to leave?"

This was not going well so far, he thought in frustration. If only he could get through to Sarah, the real Sarah, his Sarah. But how? How could he do that? Somehow he had been able to defy the brainwashing. Did the Intersect have anything to do with that? Did the flashing somehow disrupt or weaken the brainwashing or conversion or whatever it was? If only he knew of some way to get Sarah back to normal. But how? He looked pleadingly into her eyes.

"Sarah, I know this is going to sound crazy, insane … but … this isn't real. All of this isn't real," he said.

Sarah's face turned pale and she took a step back. She kept staring silently at Chuck for several moments. When she finally did speak, she spoke very slowly as if weighing each word carefully.

"What do you mean this isn't real?"

"All of this, this town, this neighborhood, this … this life, Sarah, it's all a setup, a fake. We're not really married, you're not a housewife, this isn't really our house, we don't really live here … it's all fake, it's all fake, Sarah, it's all fake to try to … to try to—"

She looked at him quietly for a moment as a mixture of emotions came across her face – bafflement, fear, concern, disbelief, and then anger.

"What … what do you mean? What do you mean we're not really married?"

Those words came out softly from her mouth. And before Chuck could reply, she repeated the words again, only this time, louder and with fury.

"What do you mean we're not really married? WHAT DO MEAN WE'RE NOT REALLY MARRIED? WHAT DO YOU MEAN?"

Before Chuck could respond, she stepped forward and shoved him back against the counter.

"I AM YOUR WIFE AND I LOVE YOU! YOU ARE MY HUSBAND AND YOU LOVE ME! I KNOW YOU DO! YOU CANNOT TELL ME THAT ISN'T REAL. WE LOVE EACH OTHER AND WE ARE MARRIED. IT'S REAL, IT'S REAL!"

"Sarah, Sarah … please listen to me, please! Of course I love you, I've always loved you. But … this whole thing … this town … this life …." Chuck paused as he realized that he was sputtering and sounding crazy, that he was losing the argument, losing Sarah, who started shouting again.

"WE ARE MARRIED. WE HAVE BEEN MARRIED. WE ARE MARRIED AND WE LOVE EACH OTHER. THAT'S REAL, IT'S REAL. YOU CAN'T TELL ME IT ISN'T REAL. I KNOW YOU AND I KNOW YOU LOVE ME. YOU CAN'T TELL ME THAT YOU DON'T LOVE ME AND THAT ISN'T REAL. YOU DO LOVE ME! YOU DO!"

Her shouting practically shook the walls as tears started streaming from her eyes. Chuck felt badly but he had to get through to her, he had to get both her and Sallie out of here before it was too late – if it wasn't already.

"Yes! Yes! Yes! I love you! I've always loved you! That's real, that's real Sarah. Please, please listen to me. This is all a setup, a trap … this is …." He rubbed his hand through his hair, trying to think of something, anything that would help him get through to her.

He held out his hands and spoke quietly. "Sarah, this life, this town, this … this whole thing isn't us. I don't really work at Fulcrumatic, you are not really a housewife. You … you are … you are a CIA agent and … and … this is all a trap, a trick to try to turn you and me … it's all part of a brainwashing, a … you're really a CIA agent and they're trying to convert you to the other side with this life, this marriage … it's all fake, it's … it's all pretend, it's –"

He paused as he realized that his rambling was sounding more insane by the second. And during that pause, a small voice spoke from the entryway to the kitchen. "Mommy? Daddy?" And there stood Sallie, looking very frightened and very concerned. Both Chuck and Sarah turned toward the little girl.

"Mommy? Daddy? What's wrong? Why are you yelling?"

Sarah turned back toward Chuck. "I suppose you are going to tell me that she isn't really our daughter?"

Chuck looked down at Sallie with sadness. She was a wonderful girl but she wasn't theirs. She was someone that Fulcrum had brainwashed into believing that he and Sarah were her parents. He turned back to Sarah who looked at him with panic and horror.

"Don't you dare, don't you dare, DON'T YOU DARE!" She was screaming and crying at the same time. She rushed over to Sallie, snatched the girl up in her arms and clutched her tightly.

"THIS IS OUR DAUGHTER! OUR DAUGHTER! SHE IS REAL! SHE IS REAL! THIS IS OUR DAUGHTER!"

Sallie looked up at Sarah in fright, not knowing what to say. Chuck tried to say something, tried to salvage the situation. They had to leave before it was too late. But he didn't know what to do. He walked toward Sarah. "Sarah, please listen to me. We can talk about this later but we need to leave. All three of us – together – need to leave now! We have to go, we have—"

"Why are you doing this Chuck? Why are you saying all of this? Why? Why? Do you want a divorce? Do you no longer love me? Do you want to leave us?"

"No, no, no, no … I don't want that at all. I love you. I want to be with you forever. Sarah, please, we need to get out of here, we need to—"

"Is it Jill? Do you want to be with Jill? IS THAT IT? DO YOU WANT TO LEAVE ME FOR JILL? IS THAT IT? IS THAT IT?" Sarah screamed as Sallie wailed.

"Sarah, please, listen to me—"

Before he could say anything more, Sarah, sobbing, ran down the hall to the bedroom with Sallie and slammed the door shut. He heard the lock click in place.

Chuck stared down at the empty hallway and at the locked door. "Well … that could have gone better," he said out loud.

He walked back into the kitchen, placed his hands on the counter and bent down and tried to think of a way out of this. He could go ahead and try to escape on his own and then bring back help. But he knew that he could not and would not leave without Sarah. There was no way that he would even consider going on without her. He would never leave her.

"Come on Bartowski think, think," he said out loud.

And then he heard a "Tsk, tsk, tsk" sound behind him. He leaned up, turned around and found Jill standing in the kitchen entryway with her arms crossed and smiling at him.

"Chuck, Chuck, Chuck," she said while shaking her head. "Poor sweet Chuck. All you wanted to do was to help Sarah and what happened? She wouldn't even listen to you. Poor sweet Chuck, poor sweet Chuck."

Chuck didn't know what to say. So he stood there staring at Jill, who still smiled at him. "Do you know what your problem is Chuck?" Without waiting for a reply, Jill told him.

"Your problem is still the same thing that I told you was your problem back during our Stanford days when you professed your undying love for me at the top of that ferris wheel. I told you then and I'll tell you now. Your problem is that you talk too much."

Jill's smile got brighter as she uncrossed her arms and then pointed a gun at Chuck.

**END CHAPTER SIX **


	7. That's My Sarah!

**CHUCK VS. THE GOOD & NORMAL & WONDERFUL LIFE**

**SUMMARY:** Chuck and Sarah have a wonderful marriage and daughter and live the normal life in a good house at a good island community. Or do they?????

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own "Chuck."

**NOTE: **I hope you enjoy this. I don't know about the rest of you, but I sure needed to read some nice and happy Chuck fan fiction after watching the episode "Chuck vs. the Beefcake." I thought it was a downer! Poor Chuck! I hope this brightens your day a little bit if not more. Please review!

-

**CHAPTER SEVEN – THAT'S MY SARAH!**

"How did you get in here Jill? I locked the door," Chuck asked.

Jill smiled. "Oh come on Chuck. I'm a Fulcrum agent. Do you not think I can pick locks? Do you not think I have all the skills and talents that Sarah does? I'm every bit as good as Sarah. I can do everything she can Chuck – EVERYTHING!" Her expression turned angry. "In fact, I can do everything better than Sarah, Chuck – BETTER. You just can't seem to see that, can you? You just can't get her out of your head, can you?" She looked disgusted.

"What am I going to do with you Chuck?" Jill said, still pointing her gun at him as they stood in the kitchen. "What am I going to do with you?"

Chuck didn't respond. He mentally cursed himself for getting caught again, for failing again to find a way out of this.

"Would you like to know something Chuck?" Jill didn't wait for an answer. "Did you know that you were supposed to be married to me? That we were supposed to be a couple here, that we were supposed to be together? At the last minute they decided that it would be better to pair you with her, with Sarah. They thought that you would make it easier to control Sarah, to convert her over to our side. They thought having someone she knew and trusted and had feelings for would help in that. They had promised me that you would be mine, that you would be with me. But once again, Sarah came between us."

Chuck glanced past Jill's shoulder, down the hallway at the closed bedroom door. He hoped Sarah stayed in there. Who knew what Jill would do if she saw Sarah.

Jill, seeing where Chuck's attention was focused, sighed. "Here I am with a gun pointed at you and you're still thinking of her," she said as she rolled her eyes.

"I thought for a brief moment there that I could convince her that we needed to leave, to get out here," Chuck softly mused. "She didn't act like a robot and mutter "Why we would want to leave the island" and at first I thought I was getting through to her. I thought I could …." He stopped and looked down at the floor.

"You didn't have a chance of breaking the brainwashing Chuck. Even if she didn't say she didn't want to leave the island like everyone is programmed to do. You just said 'leave." The trigger to protesting against leaving the island is when you actually bring up leaving the island. They don't protest if you just talk about leaving like leaving for the grocery story or whatever. It's if you talk about leaving the island. That's one way we can tell if someone is in control or not. We just ask them if they want to leave the island and if they give that standard response, then all is OK."

"So this is all some elaborate conversion, brainwashing operation?" Chuck asked.

"Oh yes. You are correct. It's all Fulcrum's island, one of our headquarters, one of our hideouts, whatever you want to call it. And we have this brainwashing operation going on … facilities all done, all made up to convert agents, citizens, anyone over to our cause. It's been going on for a while. We convert them and then send them out in our mock town here and see how they do. If it goes well, then we put them through another conversion and send them back to where they came, the way they are but just ready, willing, and able to do what we want with no one suspecting, no one noticing that they're completely in our control. It had all been going fine. No problems, no mishaps except for a few failures and anomalies every now and then with some agents, some subjects. It all worked fine, a better than 90 percent success rate. Everything worked well … until you."

Jill gazed intently at Chuck, studying him.

"How did you do it Chuck? Do you know that no one, not even the best and brightest and strongest agent or soldier, all of whom had been trained to resist and withstand extremely violent interrogations and torture, has been able to do what you have done? Not one! But you, YOU CHUCK, have resisted and beat the brainwashing every time, EVERY TIME!"

She stared incredulously at Chuck and shook her head.

"How did you, an ordinary nerd, resist it? We had a few people who managed to resist or break out of it every now and then. But Chuck, no matter how many times we brainwashed you, no matter how high a level we did it at, you always managed to snap out of it, to resist it. How did you do it Chuck?"

Chuck would never know why but for some illogical, strange reason, with Jill raving and pointing a gun at him and describing the happenings on the island, he recalled a classic TV show. This whole Fulcrum operation reminded him of that show and he suddenly remembered some lines of dialogue uttered during some key scenes in the series. And without really thinking, Chuck repeated them to answer Jill's question.

"Well … 'That would be telling,'" he said.

When a puzzled expression formed on Jill's face, he tried another.

"You could say Jill that 'I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own,'" he said.

Then she looked perplexed. So Chuck gave up.

"Well … I guess you didn't see that show, did you? It's from the late 1960s and was before both our times but I saw some episodes at a con and …." Chuck stopped as he realized his explanation went nowhere.

"Maybe it was just my low-stress lifestyle and cutting down on caffeine that did it," he quickly joked.

Jill then actually looked for a second like she might laugh. "I so underestimated you Chuck. Everybody on this island underestimated you. I see you now and I just can't believe that this is you, that goofy guy that I broke up with back at Stanford. You're incredible Chuck. Why did I break up with you back then? And why didn't I do more to hold onto you when we got back together last year?"

"It really … really was for the best, Jill. I didn't know it at the time but it was …." Chuck stopped when Jill frowned and moved her gun a little. He suddenly realized that speaking frankly about how you felt about an ex may not be a very bright idea, especially when the ex had a gun.

"Well, it doesn't really matter now Chuck. The past is past and you know what? Even though we've broken up twice, I want you. So I've got news for you Chuck. You're going back into the brainwashing. You're going back to the way you were. And no matter how many times you resist it, no matter how many times you beat it, you're going back into it again and again and again – until we get it right," Jill said. Her face turned dark and the smile disappeared.

And in that moment, Chuck found himself staring deeply into Jill's eyes and he could see something, something evil, horrible, and scary. Jill was insane, dangerously insane. He could see it and feel it. Why hadn't he ever noticed that before? he wondered. Was this the Jill that he fell in love with so long ago back in college? Was she like this then and had he been too blind to see it? Or had something horrible changed her, turned her into this?

Then another thought struck him: was Jill crazy enough to come here on her own after realizing that he had once again beaten the brainwashing? Was she crazy enough to not tell anyone, to just come here and try to take care of him alone?

Chuck's eyes darted around, looking behind, to the right, to the left, and out any windows in the kitchen. As far as he could tell, it was Jill and only Jill around. He couldn't see or hear anyone else. And he couldn't see any other people or activity outside. If Jill was the only one to know right now that he was himself, that he wasn't brainwashed and was wise to what was taking place on this island -- and by all appearances, that appeared to be the case -- then there may still be time for an escape before any other Fulcrum agents found out, Chuck thought. But first, he had to take care of the Jill problem that stood and talked in front of him.

"This time is going to be different, Chuck. Things are going to change. This time, you're going to be with me, you are going to be my husband. I am going to have you with me. No more Sarah, no more Sarah."

Chuck felt the blood draining from his face. "What are you going to do to Sarah," he gasped.

"As I said, she is out of the picture. You won't be with her, you'll be with me. You're mine now Chuck, all mine, body and eventually your mind and soul. You are coming with me now and I'm going –"

Suddenly, Jill was hit from behind. Chuck wasn't sure what happened. But when he saw a blur of blonde hair and heard a scream of rage and anger, he realized that it was Sarah. Sarah had heard what Jill said and had attacked her.

Chuck stood there in shock as Sarah smashed Jill to the floor, grabbed her gun hand and twisted it quickly and violently. Chuck swore that he heard a pop as Jill screamed in pain and dropped the gun. Sarah then straddled Jill, grabbed her shoulders and slammed her head on the kitchen floor again and again as she screamed at her.

"YOU ARE NOT TAKING CHUCK ANY WHERE! CHUCK IS NOT GOING ANY WHERE WITH YOU! CHUCK IS STAYING WITH ME! CHUCK IS MINE! CHUCK IS MINE! MINE! MINE!"

Jill was unconscious by the second or third hit. But that didn't stop Sarah. She kept bouncing Jill's head onto the floor like a basketball. And then, the beating and screaming suddenly ceased. She released Jill and her head fell down to the floor with thud and she lay there still and unconscious.

Sarah shook her head, looked at her hands and the unconscious Jill. She stood up and clasped her hands to her head. She seemed disoriented and trying to focus or figure out something. She stood there for a while shaking her head and staring at the room and out the windows. She looked lost and confused as she turned all the way around in the kitchen and stared intently at everything. And then her gaze came upon Chuck and she stopped.

"Chuck?" Sarah said as she stared at him with a puzzled look on her face. She looked down at Jill on the floor and then back at Chuck.

"Chuck," she repeated. But this time it was like a gasp. Then she rushed over and embraced him. Unsure of what was going on or what was happening with Sarah, Chuck stood still for a second but then put his arms around her. She grasped him tightly for a while and then looked up at him.

Chuck stared into those blue eyes and instantly knew that something was different – different and definitely good.

"Chuck, you were right," Sarah said with determination. "We need to leave, NOW!"

That's my Sarah! Chuck thought triumphantly. And then he said it out loud. "That's my Sarah!" He leaned down and kissed her in delight. Sarah's arms quickly wrapped around his neck and she returned the kiss. After about five seconds, their lips parted. They smiled at each other.

"Hey you! Welcome back!" Chuck said.

"Thank you. Now what do you say that we get out of here," Sarah replied.

"Sounds great!"

Sarah left his embrace and looked down at the still unconscious Jill.

"God I hate that bitch," she snarled.

"Join the club," Chuck said.

Sarah glanced back at him, grinned, and then leaned down to the floor and grabbed Jill's gun. She checked it over, stuck in the waistband of the back of her pants. Then she checked over Jill.

"I think you've taken care of her and she'll be out for quite a while," Chuck noted.

"I just want to see if she has any more guns or weapons. We'll need every bit of firepower we can get," Sarah said as she checked Jill's pockets. "Did anyone come with her?"

"As far as I can tell, she came by herself. She's just crazy enough to do that and I have a feeling that she didn't tell anyone about this. So we may still have some time."

"Nevertheless, we need to get going and get going now. And Sallie is going with us. Even though she isn't really our daughter, we can't leave her. Go to our bedroom and Sallie's bedroom and get some coats for each one of us. Then get Sallie and get back in here."

"What do we need coats for?"

"If we can't get off the island right now, we're going to have to hide somewhere and try to avoid capture until we can figure out something," Sarah explained. "It has gotten chilly these past few nights and who knows where we may end up while on the run. So we need to be prepared for that possibility. So get those coats, get Sallie, and get back here while I load up some food and other things for us. Move Chuck!"

That's my Sarah! Chuck thought again as he dashed down the hallway. He went into the bedroom where Sarah had locked herself in just a moment ago and found Sallie sitting quietly on the bed. She looked a little frightened. Chuck picked up the little girl.

"Sallie, Sar—mommy, you and I need to go. We all need to go right now. So I want you to go into your room and get your jacket right now, OK?"

The little girl still seemed a little scared. Little wonder with all of the shouting and screaming that has gone on here in the past 10 minutes, Chuck thought. He sat down on the edge of the bed with her in his lap and spoke to her some more, explaining that they were going on a trip and needed to leave as quickly as possible. He also tried to calm and reassure her. Sallie said nothing but nodded. Chuck set her down and she ran to her room. He then grabbed two jackets from the closet and stepped out into the hallway. Sallie came out of her room clutching a jacket. He reached down, grasped her hand and led her to the kitchen.

Sarah was still there going through a drawer and pulling out every sharp knife that she could find. She dropped each one in a plastic grocery sack that was there on the counter, alongside another plastic sack filled with cracker and cookie boxes and water bottles. Some food supplies for the road, he thought. He looked on the floor. No Jill.

"Uhhh … what happened to …" he asked.

"Bound up and stuffed in a closet," Sarah replied without looking up from the collection of knives that she was gathering.

"Daddy?"

"Yeah Sallie?"

"Why is mommy taking all of those knives?"

"Mommy plans to do a lot of carving," he answered.

Sarah turned toward him and looked amused. "Ready?" she asked. Chuck nodded.

"Pick up Sallie and carry her out to the car. Move casually and calmly, like we're going to the grocery store. You get Sallie into that car seat and then get in the passenger side. I'm right behind you. Understand?" Sarah commanded.

Oh, it's so good to have Sarah back, Chuck thought as he picked up Sallie. Sarah gathered up the bags of knives and food and they walked out the door.

**XXXXXXXXXXX**

Jill's car was parked behind theirs, blocking their exit. Chuck started to say something about that but Sarah noted, "Not a problem, get in the car like I said." She opened the back door on the driver's side, dumped the bag of food in there, then opened the driver's door and dumped her bag of knives in there. Then she walked over to Jill's car while Chuck put Sallie in the car seat.

Sarah rummaged around in Jill's car for a moment and then came back. By then, Chuck was in his seat and buckled up. Sarah got in and deposited a gun in the space between their seats. "I was hoping that she had another gun in there. That will help," Sarah said as she got in the driver's seat, buckled up, and started the car.

She maneuvered the car forward to put some space between their car and Jill's. Then she backed up the car to the left over the grass, past Jill's car and onto the street. Once there, she put the car in drive and off they went.

She drove slowly down the streets. They didn't see any signs of pursuit, so they didn't want to attract attention to themselves. Things seemed normal as they drove. All along every street, they saw people going about like it was a normal, happy, peaceful town. But with the brainwashing erased, both knew what was really going on.

Sarah pulled out her cell phone and started to dial.

"Don't! Hang up!" Chuck warned.

"I was going to try to call Casey," Sarah replied as she gave Chuck a puzzled look.

"Don't! Don't! They can trace it and realize that you're not brainwashed," he warned. "One time when I was normal, not converted, I tried dialing Casey and Ellie and minutes later Fulcrum agents were on me. The phones won't go to anyone or any number off the island. We can't reach anyone off of the island that way," Chuck told her.

She shut her phone. "OK, then we continue with this and go with the second option."

"What's that?" Chuck asked.

"I'm taking us to the ferry to the mainland. We're going to get on and get out of here. If anyone asks, we're going over for a family day on the mainland. If they try to stop us from getting on the ferry or if they try to stop us while we're on the ferry, then we try to get to the pilot's cabin. I'm hoping that there will be a radio in there so that we call for help and get someone out here to get us off this island."

"Well, FYI, the ferry is always out. You will recall that one time when I got free of the brainwashing, I tried getting us on the ferry and off the island and was stopped. They said it wasn't working. I don't think it ever works except for Fulcrum," Chuck said. "And I think they have everyone programmed not to leave the island. Remember every time I suggested it, you said that we shouldn't leave the island, that everything we wanted was on the island."

"Then we'll go for the cabin and the radio," Sarah said.

"There's bound to be a radio on board. Yeah, we could do that," Chuck mused.

"Chuck!" Sarah snapped. "It goes without saying that I still have to protect you. I don't want you getting involved in fighting or anything and getting injured. You leave the fighting to me and you keep your head down. And you're also going to have to watch Sallie." Sarah indicated the little girl in the back seat with a backward wave of her hand.

"Sarah, you may need help. I can't just stand by and—"

"Chuck, it is my responsibility to protect and take care of you. No more discussion. And one other thing …."

Chuck looked at Sarah with concern. He had a feeling that he wouldn't like what she had to say next.

"If it starts going bad or if you have the opportunity or chance to escape, then you—"

"Sarah, I am not going to leave you," Chuck interrupted her.

"Chuck—"

"NO Sarah, I am not going to leave you. You can forget that! For better or for worse, remember?"

Sarah looked angry but said nothing. She turned the car left and the ferry landing was straight ahead. She looked at Chuck. "Ready?" she asked.

"Ready."

**END CHAPTER SEVEN**

**-**

**NOTE: **_OK Jill haters! What did you think of the Sarah-Jill confrontation in this chapter? Please review!_


	8. Bolos Agent Walker, Bolos!

**CHUCK VS. THE GOOD & NORMAL & WONDERFUL LIFE**

**SUMMARY:** Chuck and Sarah have a wonderful marriage and daughter and live the normal life in a good house at a good island community. Or do they?????

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own "Chuck."

**NOTE: **Once again, I don't consider myself an action/adventure writer but more of a "fluff" writer. So I don't know how well this chapter works. But regardless – please review! Thank you!

-

**CHAPTER EIGHT – BOLOS AGENT WALKER, BOLOS!**

Sarah drove the car into the ferry landing and stopped at the barrier. Both she and Chuck glanced at the boat moored at the dock. It was the same small boat as last time, the Terence Feely ferry, which looked liked it could carry about a dozen or more cars. A dock worker walked up to the car and Sarah rolled down the window. "Hi," she said. "Is it too late to get on the ferry? We'd like to go across to the mainland."

"I'm afraid it's too late. It's about to pull out and you can't get on. And I'm sorry to tell you this but after that, the ferry has to shut down. We won't be making any more trips to the mainland today," the worker replied. Then he looked directly at Sarah and asked, "And do you really want to leave the island?"

He was testing them, to see if they were brainwashed, Sarah realized. She quickly turned to Chuck. "Get out of the car, get Sallie and run to the ferry! Move Chuck! Now!" she commanded.

Then she pusher her car door open, slamming it right into the dock worker who fell back onto the ground. She unbuckled the seat belt, jumped out and delivered a kick to his face. Chuck, by now outside of the car, jerked open the back door, unbuckled Sallie, pulled her out and ran toward the ferry.

"HEY!" somebody screamed. But Chuck kept going. Sarah was by his side instantly.

"Don't stop Chuck!" she yelled. "We may have to jump onto the boat. Can you do it?"

Chuck looked. The ferry was still at the dock but the engines were running. The boat hadn't moved yet but it could any second. "I'll do it," Chuck yelled back. Sallie held onto him with both arms and looked scared. "Just hang on Sallie," Chuck warned the little girl. "It may get rough."

Another dock worker ran toward them. Chuck looked, saw his face and flashed. All sorts of images of the man appeared in his mind. "Sarah, he's Fulcrum," he yelled.

The man rushed up to them and was reaching into his pocket. As his hand came out, both Sarah and Chuck could see a gun. "Keep going Chuck!" Sarah yelled as she stopped and delivered a roundhouse kick right to the man's face. She followed that with a punch and another kick and the man fell to the ground and stayed there. Then she dashed after Chuck who was almost to the edge of the ferry landing. The boat had not moved away from the dock yet. They could still make it, Sarah thought as she raced toward Chuck.

Chuck slowed down as he got to the edge of dock. A bar that dropped down from the side of the pier blocked automobile entry onto the ramp. He looked back. Sarah was about 15 feet away and catching up to them quickly. We can make it, he thought. All they had to do was crouch under the barrier, walk eight feet, and then jump onto the ferry, which had still not moved out. But the engines sounded much louder. The boat was about to leave. They had to jump now.

Chuck glanced down at Sallie. By some miracle, the young girl had remained silent during the run from the car to the ferry. But she still looked scared. "Hang onto me Sallie," he told the young girl in as calm and reassuring tone as he could manage. "We're going to have to jump." She clung tighter onto Chuck as he crouched under the barrier.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" someone screamed.

Chuck ignored that, got past the barrier, stood up and moved toward the dock edge.

"HEY!" a man who had just run up screamed. "You can't do that—"

Before he could say anything more, Sarah arrived and got him with a kick. While he wobbled, stunned from the blow, she grabbed his shoulder and slammed his head into one of the dock poles. He collapsed to the ground. Sarah ducked under the barrier and ran up alongside Chuck at the dock edge.

The ferry blew its horn, the engines revved up, and it started to pull out from the dock.

"JUMP CHUCK! NOW!" Sarah screamed. And they both leaped toward the ferry.

And they both landed on their feet on the boat. Sarah grabbed the side with her left hand to steady herself and instantly reached out with her right and gripped Chuck's arm. She steadied him and Sallie. They had made it!

"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING ON HERE?" someone yelled. They turned their heads and looked. A man on the boat was running toward them.

"Fulcrum?" Sarah asked.

Chuck looked at the man's face and flashed. "Fulcrum," he confirmed.

Sarah moved forward. Chuck put Sallie down and moved her behind him.

The man came at Sarah but at the last second, she sidestepped, grabbed his arm and used his momentum to crash him into the side of the boat. Then, still clutching his arm, she hurled him overboard.

"SARAH! BEHIND YOU!" Chuck screamed.

Sarah whirled around and saw another attacker. He had an axe and tried to hit her with it. She dodged and grabbed one of the knives she had on her. She threw it and it hit the man right in the neck. He screamed and dropped the axe. Sarah quickly closed in, grabbed his arm and pushed him toward the side intending to toss him overboard. While doing that, she didn't see two more attackers approaching.

But Chuck saw them and desperately looked around, trying to think of something that he could do to help. He spotted two small parking blocks used to brace against the lead cars parked on the ferry during transport. The blocks were tied together with a rope. Looking at them, he suddenly recalled a scene from the James Bond movie "Moonraker" in which the inventor Q demonstrated some deadly bolos that he had made.

"Bolos! Bolos!" Chuck said out loud and reached down and grabbed the rope attached to the parking blocks. He raised the blocks and rope above his head and twirled. The parking blocks rotated just like bolos. It could work, it could work, he thought and he hurled them toward the two men running at Sarah.

The makeshift bolos flew through the air at them and one of the parking blocks hit a man squarely in the face and he yelled in pain. The other didn't get hit by one of the blocks but the ropes tangled him up slightly and slowed his approach. And that gave Sarah the chance she needed.

She quickly delivered a roundhouse kick to one man's face and followed with another to the other man. More kicks and punches followed. She grabbed one man and pushed him overboard and then the other. She turned and looked at Chuck curiously.

"Bolos agent Walker, bolos," Chuck declared.

Sarah grinned. "I supposed that's from a movie or TV show?" she inquired.

Chuck nodded.

"You'll have to tell me later which one it's from," she said with a shake of a head. Then she added, "Nerd!" But she said it lovingly.

She looked around the ferry. No other assailants were approaching or within sight. She then pulled out her gun and pointed up at the tower that was in the center of the boat. "Grab Sallie and let's get up to that pilot's cabin. He may not have noticed what's going on down here, so we'll need to move quickly," she said.

Chuck picked up Sallie. She glanced curiously at Sarah as Chuck picked her up. "Daddy? Is mommy a killer robot?"

"No Sallie, she's just big and bad," Chuck replied. Sarah heard the exchange and grinned again.

Gun drawn, Sarah lead the way up the metal staircase towards to the pilot's cabin on the upper part of the boat's tower. Chuck kept an eye behind them as they climbed up in case any other crewmen suddenly appeared to attack. But he saw no one. The engines were still running and the ferry was slowly moving, so both Chuck and Sarah guessed that the pilot had been concentrating on driving the ferry and was unaware of what had gone on down on the deck.

With three steps left to go to reach the upper level, Sarah stopped and looked. The cabin was at the top of the tower and had a 360 degree viewing window. The pilot was facing the other way and had his back to them while driving the ferry. Sarah glanced back towards land. Chuck did too. He didn't see any boats leaving the dock in pursuit.

"Chuck, I'm going to crawl around on this deck to the door of the cabin and try to sneak up on him. You and Sallie come up to this deck but stay down below the window level at all times. Just crouch down and wait. I'll let you two know when it's all clear and to come on in," Sarah said.

And with that, she slithered up the last few steps, got on all fours on the tower deck and made her way around to the cabin door. Chuck got up on the deck and crouched down there with Sallie. He waited and listened and hoped.

A few seconds later, he heard the sound of door being jerked open and a yell of surprise. Chuck couldn't hear anything after that. But then the ferry's engines sputtered and stopped. When things got quieter, he heard some thumps. Much to his delight, the thumps were followed by the sound of Sarah's voice.

"Chuck! All clear! You and Sallie come on in!"

He stood up, holding Sallie, who was quiet. He gazed at her. Her eyes had gotten big but she looked OK. He hugged her and stroked her hair. "Sorry about all of this Sallie. But this is something that we have to do. It's OK. We're going to be OK," he said to the young girl. And with that, he and Sallie entered the cabin.

Sarah stood over an unconscious pilot lying on the floor. "He wasn't cooperative. So I made him stop the engines and knocked him out," she said in answer to Chuck's questioning glance.

Chuck looked out the cabin windows. The ferry was drifting but there weren't any nearby obstacles, structures or land for them to crash into. If they could get help, they would be all right. But Chuck knew that was a big if.

"I'm going to get on the radio and see if I can get the Coast Guard or someone to come help us," Sarah said.

She went to the radio and started fiddling with the machine.

Chuck, still holding Sallie, looked around the cabin. He saw an instrument panel which he assumed was the controls for the ferry, the radio station which Sarah was at, a computer, and – COMPUTER? He rushed over to check it out.

It was a Mac with a built-in webcam. He moved the mouse and looked at the icons on the screen. Internet capability was there and it appeared to be wireless connection. He sat down, positioned Sallie in his lap, and went to work.

The world wide web appeared on the screen. The wireless connection appeared to work just fine. Chuck moved the mouse up to the address bar, clicked and typed quickly.

If I could just connect to the server at the Orange Orange Castle, he thought. He waited and hoped and then a screen appeared asking for ID and password. More than likely, his and Sarah's access had been removed as they were missing and presumed compromised. But he knew Casey's ID and password, having once flashed on some of Casey's records. He typed those in and then found himself with full access to the Castle's network.

"DAMMIT!" Sarah cursed.

He turned curiously toward Sarah.

"I can't get through to anyone, somehow they're jamming the radio," she said and slammed her fist on the counter in frustration.

"Keep trying, maybe it will keep them distracted from what I'm doing," Chuck urged.

"What are you doing?" Sarah asked.

"Just keep trying on that radio and keep their attention on you!"

He got the Castle's network menu, found the videoconferencing options. He searched through that and got what he was looking for. He selected it and then prayed. "Please work, please work, please work," he muttered under his breath. Sallie looked curiously from the screen and then at his face.

A popup screen appeared on the monitor and Chuck found himself staring at General Beckman's face.

"Yes Major Casey, what is – MR. BARTOWSKI! WHERE ARE YOU?"

Sarah's face snapped over in Chuck's direction and her jaw dropped in astonishment as she heard Beckman's voice.

"General, we may not have much time! Agent Walker and I are currently on board the Terence Feely ferry boat which is adrift off of the Portmeirion Village island. We've been held prisoner on that island and it's a Fulcrum operation. They have an entire operation going there. Agent Walker and I escaped but we need help now. We're on this boat and Fulcrum is going to be coming after us any second. WE NEED HELP NOW!" Chuck yelled.

Beckman turned to her right. "Can you pinpoint his exact location?" she asked someone off screen.

She turned back to Chuck. "Mr. Bartowski, we're contacting the Coast Guard right now and we're also getting NSA forces in your area mobilized. Keep talking while we try to get your exact location. Did you say Fulcrum is in control of an island?"

"Yes general! They have a whole operation on Portmeirion Village island. Agent Walker and I have been there – well, how long have we been missing? I'm not sure how long it has been," he rambled.

"Just over four weeks," Beckman replied. She turned her head as someone off screen spoke to her. Then she quickly turned back to Chuck.

"We have your location and the Coast Guard has informed us that they have a ship on patrol approximately five minutes from you. They are on the way as we speak. Where are you and Agent Walker on the boat and what is your situation?"

"We're holed up in the pilot's cabin which is at the top of the tower in the middle of the ferry. The unconscious pilot is with us. Other than him, we believe that we're the only ones on board. Agent Walker tossed the rest of the crew overboard. The boat is drifting," Chuck explained.

"Is Agent Walker armed?"

"Yes ma'am."

"We have NSA forces on the way. But it may be 20-30 minutes before they can get there. I'm instructing the Coast Guard to guard your boat. Armed Coast Guard crewmen will board your boat and stand guard and prevent anyone else from boarding. If you and Agent Walker can stay safely in the cabin, do so. Do not leave that cabin! Agent Casey will be with the NSA forces and they are mobilizing as we speak. Do not leave the cabin until he is on board and tells you do so. Understood?" the general said.

"Understood. There's some other things," Chuck said.

"Explain."

"That island is full of Fulcrum agents. They also have plenty of hostages who have been brainwashed into believing that they are citizens living on that island in this fake town. And a lot of those hostages are CIA and NSA agents. You need to get help and lots of it out there as soon as you can. And also, Agent Walker and I have a three-year old girl here. We're going to need help with her too," Chuck rambled.

The general looked astonished and perplexed at the same time. Before their conversation could continue, the screen blurred and then went blank. Fulcrum, Chuck thought, they broke the connection. He looked out the window and toward the island. He saw several boats in the distance heading their way.

Sarah saw them too.

"Chuck, there's still time. The Coast Guard could get here before they do. But if they don't, I want you and Sallie to lie down on the floor and stay under cover. I'm going to try to hold them off from up here if they—"

Before she could finish, a siren blared from a distance. They both looked out the window in the other direction. A large Coast Guard cruiser was quickly approaching. About a minute later, it pulled alongside the ferry. Once close, five Coast Guard crewmen and women leaped over and onto the ferry. Each one held up a rifle as they spread out and formed a defensive perimeter on the deck.

The Fulcrum boats were about a 100 yards away from the ferry. Then a loudspeaker blared out a warning.

"DO NOT APPROACH THE TERENCE FEELY FERRY. IT IS NOW IN THE CUSTODY OF THE US COAST GUARD. DO NOT APPROACH. VEAR AWAY OR WE WILL TAKE DEFENSIVE MEASURES. DO NOT APPROACH THE TERENCE FEELY FERRY. IT IS NOW IN THE CUSTODY OF THE US COAST GUARD. VEAR AWAY. DO NOT APPROACH."

The message was repeated and the Fulcrum boats turned around and departed.

"Yes, yes, YES!" Chuck cheered. He looked over at a smiling Sarah. "We did it! We did it!" He looked down at Sallie who was still sitting in his lap. He picked her up and held her up above him. "How about that Sallie? How about that little girl? Can we kick butt? Can we kick butt?" Sallie giggled. He set her back down in his lap. "Yes, yes, YES!" he cheered again.

Sarah rushed over to Chuck, grasped his head with both of her hands and leaned her face down close to his. "Charles Bartowski! If we weren't already married, I'd marry you right now!" she cheered. And then she kissed him.

**END CHAPTER EIGHT**


	9. Long Time No See

**CHUCK VS. THE GOOD & NORMAL & WONDERFUL LIFE**

**SUMMARY:** Chuck and Sarah have a wonderful marriage and daughter and live the normal life in a good house at a good island community. Or do they?????

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own "Chuck."

-

**CHAPTER NINE - LONG TIME NO SEE**

Chuck and Sarah watched as the Fulcrum boats departed and headed back to the island without any fight.

"I guess they figured it's over?" Chuck asked Sarah.

She nodded. "Once the Coast Guard appeared, more than likely they realized that everyone was alerted to the island and now escape is on their mind," she said.

They watched and waited and about 30 minutes later, more boats and helicopters appeared and headed toward the island. Eventually, another boat pulled alongside the ferry. Chuck and Sarah could see some people in the boat conferring with their Coast Guard sentries and then they saw a man board the ferry. It was John Casey.

He quickly came up the stairs to the pilot's cabin and they let him in.

"Long time no see," he said as he entered the cabin.

"Nice to see you too Casey. I'm glad you're OK," Chuck replied.

Casey looked at the two of them and then he noticed Sallie. "Who's the kid?" he asked.

Chuck and Sarah glanced at each other. Neither knew what to say or how to explain. Finally, Chuck decided to try.

"Well, for the moment, she's our daughter. We were brainwashed or converted into believing that we were married and that we had a little girl. And she's the little girl who they used for that. We need to find her real parents…." Chuck stopped because Sallie looked at him curiously, questioningly. Then she looked scared. He realized that she still thought of him and Sarah as her parents and what he said frightened her. "Maybe we should talk about this later," he said.

Casey looked at Chuck as if he were drunk. He turned toward Sarah. "He's telling the truth Casey," Sarah said. "Fulcrum has a brainwashing facility and fake town set up for that on the island. It needs to be shut down and everybody rounded up. There are a lot of other agents and innocent people who were converted with this process and they need to be helped, including this little girl. Is the island secured yet?"

"It will be soon. I'm just waiting for the signal," he said as he held up a receiver. "Look, the first thing we need to do is get Bartowski out of here. General Beckman wanted him secure ASAP. But Walker, you're going to have to stay. We need you to coordinate things on the island. Right now, you are the only one who can tell us what's going on there. So I'm sending Bartowski back…."

"Back home?" Chuck asked hopefully.

"Negative," Casey answered. "We're sending you to a secure location until we can figure out what's on that island and what is going on. So you three come with me and let's get going."

Chuck picked up Sallie and he and Sarah followed Casey down the stairs to the deck. Casey issued some commands into his receiver and off in the distance, a boat gunned its engines and headed toward the ferry.

"Bartowski, that boat is taking you back to L.A. And once there, some agents will escort you to the secure facility. Just go with them. Walker and/or I will come and get you in a few hours. Leave the kid here and someone will see to her," Casey commanded.

Hearing that last sentence, Sallie's eyes grew wide. She started screaming and she gripped Chuck's neck tightly. "NO, NO, NO. DADDY, DON'T LEAVE ME, DON'T LEAVE ME! MOMMY, DON'T LET THEM TAKE ME. NO, NO, NO, NO!"

Chuck tried to calm Sallie down, telling her that it would be all right and that she would be taken care of. But she kept crying and screaming. Sarah came over to Chuck's side and tried to help calm the little girl down but to no avail. Casey just looked on, not knowing what to do. Finally, Chuck suggested a solution.

"Just let her come with me," he said.

"Bartowski, we don't know whose kid this is. There are some parents who probably very much want her back," Casey replied.

"Exactly. But right now I'm her dad. And until you can cure her and find out who she belongs to, she should probably just stay with me," Chuck said.

Sarah looked at the wailing child and Chuck. "Do you think you can take care of her OK?" she asked.

"Well, I've had some experience with her in the last couple of weeks. It's the best solution for now, don't you think?"

Sarah nodded and turned to Casey. "Let him take her with him until we can get her back to normal. He's right. That would be the best solution."

Casey groaned. "Fine Bartowski. You want diaper duty, you got it. Take her."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Chuck and Sallie road on the boat back to L.A. with her clutching tightly to Chuck for the entire trip. She wanted Sarah to come too, but Chuck managed to explain that mommy needed to do some work and would join them later. They got back to L.A. where a car and some agents awaited them.

They were taken to some building and put in a comfortable room. Food and a television were there but no phone. So he and Sallie ate, watched television, talked and rested. During that time, one of the agents came in with a file for Chuck to "study and memorize."

Sallie fell asleep on the couch while Chuck looked over the file. It was the cover story for being missing for four weeks. Basically, he, Sarah and everyone else had been kidnapped and held prisoner on the island by a cult. That was the story that would be given to the media and anyone else about the raid on the island.

After he finished with the file, he watched TV again and waited. He looked at his watch. It was about 2pm, about four hours after they had arrived at the secure facility. He heard a noise and the door to the room opened. In walked Sarah.

"You OK?" she asked.

"Just bored," he replied. "What's going on at the island?"

"It's secure and they've rounded up everyone and they're busy assessing who's who and how to cure the people of that brainwashing. They're trying to figure out how the whole process works and if they can cure people of it. It may take a while. Most of the Fulcrum agents were gone by the time we got there," Sarah said with a shake of her head.

"Any idea how long I'll have to stay here? When do you think I can go home?"

"How about now?" she asked.

"Really?"

She nodded and then looked at Sallie who slept on the couch. "We need to figure out what to do with her."

"I can keep her until they find a way to cure her of that conversion or find out who her parents are," Chuck said.

Sarah looked surprised. "Chuck, what are you—"

"I can take care of her. She still thinks we're her parents, so me taking care of her would probably be the best thing for her. And I can just tell Ellie that she was in the same cell at the cult with us and she bonded to us and I'm just taking care of her until they find her parents," he explained.

Sarah looked at the sleeping Sallie. She seemed to be deep in thought. Chuck stared at Sarah and pondered the past weeks. They had been brainwashed into believing that they had been married for years and they had made love many times. He could still recall every wonderful moment of those times and every inch of Sarah's beautiful body. Part of him would treasure those memories for the rest of his life and part of him wished that he couldn't remember any of it because he knew that having Sarah as his wife for those few weeks wasn't enough. He wanted Sarah for a lifetime and he wondered if that would ever happen.

We really need to talk about what happened, Chuck thought. But would Sarah talk? She tended to put up walls on personal things and feelings. He knew that. If she ever talked about this, it would probably be to tell him that it was mistake, that it didn't happen and that it would never happen again. And thinking that, Chuck found himself wanting not to remember the time on that island.

Sarah turned around. "Well, I brought some of her clothes from the house for whoever takes care of her until we find her parents. I guess it would be OK for you to do that. So let's get you home," she said.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Sarah pulled the car in front of the apartment building and parked. Chuck got out and went to the back seat and unbuckled Sallie from the car seat. When they left the secured facility, Chuck had insisted that they first stop at a store and get a car seat for Sallie. They needed one for her to be safe and secure while traveling in the car and he added that he would need it for the next few days while he took care of the young girl. After Sallie climbed out, Chuck undid the car seat and pulled it out along with the bag of Sallie's clothes that Sarah brought from the island. He closed the back door and then noticed that Sarah still sat in the driver's seat.

"Aren't you coming in?" he asked.

"No. This is family time for you," she replied.

"You are family," he said with a smile.

"Thank you but—"

Chuck heard a squeal from behind him. He turned and saw Ellie rushing toward them. Evidently, she had spotted them from the window and couldn't wait. "Too late," he told Sarah with a chuckle.

And then Ellie was hugging him and crying at the same time. Chuck dropped the car seat on the ground and hugged her back. It was quite a while before Ellie stopped fussing over Chuck and Sarah. She hugged Chuck, pulled back and looked at him with tears streaming from her eyes, and then hugged him again. She did the same routine with Sarah. Then she went back to hugging Chuck. Then back to Sarah. Sallie, who remained standing behind Chuck, didn't know what to make of the tall brunette who hugged and cried and squealed. When Ellie finally settled down and stood in one spot, the little girl spoke.

"Mommy, daddy, who is this?" she asked.

Ellie looked puzzled and her head went from right to left, searching for the source of that voice. Then her eyes went downward and spotted Sallie. Ellie's eyes bulged and her jaw dropped. She looked back at Chuck and then Sarah.

"Daddy? Mommy?" she whispered. A big grin formed on her face.

"No, no, no, NO ELLIE! NO! It isn't what you're thinking! It isn't that! NO! NO! NO!" Chuck quickly said.

He explained the cover story that he and Sarah had agreed on with Sallie, that the little girl had bonded with them while they were held hostage at the cult and that Sallie had suffered some trauma and didn't remember her real parents and that he and Sarah were acting as fosters parents until her real parents could be found. He had to whisper the whole thing so that Sallie didn't hear and get upset.

"So she'll be staying with me and you're going to be Aunt Ellie for a little while, OK?" Chuck finished.

Ellie looked at Chuck and placed her hand on his cheek. She sighed and seemed a little sad. "Well, for a few seconds…I thought that…I just…I…I had a ray of hope there for a brief moment," she said.

"Sis!"

"I know, I know. I just…I just want you to…." Ellie stopped and quickly glanced over at Sarah and then back at Chuck. She smiled at Chuck. But it seemed like a sad sort of smile. "Never mind," she said. And then she crouched down to eye level with Sallie.

"Hi Sallie. I'm Chuck's older sister Ellie. So I'm your Aunt Ellie. It's nice to meet you," she greeted the little girl.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Chuck, Sallie kind of looks like you and Sarah," Ellie said after all four of them had entered the apartment.

Chuck nodded but didn't say anything. He showed Sallie where everything was in the apartment, got out a cot that had been stored away in a closet and set it up in his room for her to sleep on. Then he, Sarah and Ellie prepared and ate dinner together. Devon had a late shift at the hospital and wouldn't be back for a while. While they fixed food and ate, Ellie peppered them with questions. Chuck tried to leave most of the answers to Sarah, which wasn't hard as he spent quite a bit of time attending to Sallie. At dinner, the little girl ate only a little and sat there quietly.

"Hey? What's wrong Sallie?" Chuck said in a whisper as he leaned close to her.

"Tired," Sallie said in a faint voice.

"Well that's no problem. We have a place all set up for you to sleep," Chuck said as he stood and scooped Sallie up his arms.

He turned toward Sarah and Ellie to tell them that he was going to put Sallie to bed and found the two watching and smiling.

"What?" he asked.

They stayed silent and kept smiling. Finally, Ellie answered.

"Nothing. Go put Sallie to bed…dad."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

After dinner, Sarah said that she needed to leave. She stood up and walked over to Chuck and Ellie.

"OK, see you tomorrow?" she asked Chuck.

"I'll be right here."

"Do you have to leave?" Ellie asked her.

"Unfortunately, yes. There are a lot of things that I have to catch up on at work and my home. At least I hope I still have a job and a home. Being gone for four weeks didn't make matters any easier for me," she said with a glance at Chuck, trying to communicate silently to him what work she was really referring to.

Chuck nodded. He knew very well that the CIA and NSA were still trying to clear up and figure out things at that Fulcrum island and that it could take up a lot of Sarah's time for a while.

"Well, let me know if I can do anything to help," he said.

Sarah smiled. Then she moved forward, kissed and embraced him. She held on tightly to him for a while. Then she whispered in his ear. "Take care of Sallie. We'll try to find her real parents as soon as possible."

She stepped back, looked at him for a few seconds. Her expression was tender and then she reached up with her hand and stroked his cheek. She looked like that she didn't want to leave. She then leaned forward and kissed him again. "Walk me to my car?"

Chuck nodded and they started to leave but Ellie stepped forward and grabbed one of Sarah's shoulders.

"Sarah, I want to thank you," Ellie said.

Sarah looked puzzled. Ellie smiled. "I don't want to think about how bad or horrible it must have been to be a prisoner. The thought of you and my brother going through something like that just makes me sick and angry. And I am so glad and grateful that you are both safe. I can't tell you how worried I was while the two of you were gone. And I want to say something else."

Ellie then stepped a little closer to Sarah and looked directly in her eyes. "I am so glad that you are Chuck's girl friend and that he has someone like you. I've seen how you look at my brother and I know that you would do anything you could do to keep him safe. And I'll bet while you and Chuck were held hostage at that cult, that you did a lot for him. So thank you Sarah, thank you."

And then she hugged her. Sarah returned the hug and when they let go of each other, Sarah looked back into Ellie's eyes. "Your brother does everything he can to keep me safe too, you know," she said softly. "And he was a big help to me while we were held hostage."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

As they walked out to the car, Sarah noted that she would be at the island coordinating things with other agents and might be out of touch at times. "Are you sure you'll be OK taking care of Sallie by yourself?" she asked.

"Not a problem," Chuck replied.

"As soon as they figure out how to undo this brainwashing, we'll get her going on that. And we're also working on finding her parents. And after everything is sorted out on that island, General Beckman will probably want you and me and whoever else in for a briefing," Sarah noted.

"Just let me know."

They stood by Sarah's car, staring at each other for a moment. Then Chuck broke the silence.

"Sarah…uhhhhh…you know…while we were…ummm…brainwashed…." Chuck stopped not knowing what to say next or how to say it. He thought that they should talk about what they had done while they thought they were married on that island but he wasn't sure exactly how to approach Sarah about it. And Sarah didn't make it any easier by saying nothing and staring back at him with her face unemotional and expressionless. Chuck gave up and decided to try some other time.

"Well, never mind. Good night and drive safely," he said and turned to go.

Her hand grasped his arm and pulled him back to her. "Chuck…we…I…." Sarah smiled and then leaned forward and kissed him. "Good night." And then she got in her car and drove away.

Chuck stood there a little stunned by the kiss. He had expected her to kiss him inside the apartment, in front of Ellie, for cover's sake. But out here, there was no one around, no one to maintain the cover for. Eventually, he wandered back to the apartment and into his room. Sallie was asleep on the cot. He left the lights off so not to disturb her and went over to his desk and sat down.

He thought for a moment and then reached into his pants pocket and pulled out the wedding ring that Fulcrum had put on his left ring finger while he was on the island. Nobody had bothered to ask him to return it when he and Sarah had been rescued. He had forgotten that he had it on his finger until after he and Sallie had been taken to that secure facility. It was then that he took it off and pocketed it and waited for somebody to say something or ask for it back. But no one ever did.

He held it up close to his eyes, inspecting it. It was a plain gold wedding band ring. It looked like real gold. He couldn't help but think about what it would feel like to have that ring on his finger for real, meaning that he was really married to Sarah. He stared at it for a while, then sighed and put it down on the desk. Then he opened a drawer and pulled out a sheet of paper and an envelope. He wrapped up the ring in the paper and taped that paper shut. Then he marked the front of the envelope with the word "Ring" and put the wrapped ring in there. He sealed the envelope and then put it in a box in his closet that held souvenirs and knick knacks from his past.

**END CHAPTER NINE**

**NOTE:** This is not, REPEAT, **NOT**, the end of the story. There is still one more chapter to go.


	10. No Matter What Happens

**CHUCK VS. THE GOOD & NORMAL & WONDERFUL LIFE**

**SUMMARY:** Chuck and Sarah have a wonderful marriage and daughter and live the normal life in a good house at a good island community. Or do they?????

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own "Chuck."

**NOTE: OK, here is the final chapter. I hope you have enjoyed the story. Please review.**

-

**CHAPTER 10 – No Matter What Happens**

The next evening, Sarah arrived at the Bartowski home and was let in by Ellie. Sarah started to speak but was shushed. She looked curiously at Chuck's older sister who smiled and pointed at the couch. Sarah turned and saw Chuck reclined there, dozing with his head tilted back and his arms wrapped around Sallie who was asleep in his lap.

Sarah stood and stared for a long time at the two of them. And for a moment, images of Chuck as a father, bottle feeding an infant, changing diapers, walking with a child, sitting with a child in a rocking chair, helping the child with homework and much more filled her mind.

Ellie came up by her side, stood there and looked at the sleeping pair.

"He's really good with her. I never thought of my brother as being good with kids much less imagined him as a parent. But he's been great with her. I can't get over at these parenting skills that I never knew he had," she said as she shook her head in amazement.

Sarah said nothing but continued to imagine. Eventually, she went over to the couch and sat down near Chuck and then gently stroked his hair. Chuck's eyes popped open. He glanced down at Sallie who was still sleeping in his lap. Then, seeing Sarah, he spoke softly and tried to remain still so not to wake the little girl.

"Hey," he greeted Sarah. "How are things going with work?"

"That's one reason I came by." Before saying anything else, she glanced around to make sure that Ellie was out of earshot. "They think they have the cure for the brainwashing. So tomorrow, we're supposed to bring Sallie to a medical facility that they have set up. And they also want to see you."

"Me? What for?"

"I'm not sure. I think they just want to check you over and make sure you're OK," Sarah said.

Chuck sighed. "What time?"

"I'll come by tomorrow around 9am and pick you up."

"We'll be ready."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Sallie was definitely leery and hesitant about all of the men and women in white lab coats examining and talking to her at the secured medical facility that Sarah brought her and Chuck to the next morning.

She was OK with her vitals being taken but when the doctors wanted to whisk her away into another room, away from Chuck and Sarah, she started crying and screaming. So Chuck and Sarah stayed with her for the rest of the way – when they gave her a shot, when they put her down on a table and attached some sort of helmet that was connected to some sort of machine on her head. She looked scared but both Chuck and Sarah stood by each side, held a hand and did their best to calm and reassure her. The doctors turned on the machine and about a minute later, Sallie's eyes went wide and she stared at Chuck and Sarah.

As a doctor removed the helmet from Sallie's head, she continued to stare sadly at the two people holding her hand.

"You're not my mommy and daddy, are you?" she asked.

"No," Sarah replied softly. "But we do know who your real parents are and some people will take you home right now."

Two nurses came over and one picked up Sallie and carried her out of the lab. The little girl stared at Chuck and Sarah the whole way out. And as she was carried through the door, she lifted up one hand and waved goodbye. Chuck waved back, as did Sarah. It was then that Chuck noticed that Sarah was standing closely, pressed against him as if in need of support or something to lean against.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXX**

For the rest of the morning, Chuck went from room to room, machine to machine, doctor to doctor and got tested, re-tested, re-re-tested. He lost count of how many blood samples were taken from him, how many blood pressure and temperature checks were made, how often his eyes and ears were looked at, and how many questions he had to answer from so many doctors. They also did X-Rays, MRIs, CAT Scans, and some tests that Chuck couldn't name. And three doctors spent about an hour talking with him and asking question after question about the brainwashing.

As the afternoon of tests and questioning continued, Chuck lost track of time and often forgot which doctor was testing him for what. He eventually found himself in an office, talking with some doctor seated at a desk. The doctor asked Chuck a few more questions, nodded at Chuck's answers, and then announced that they were finished and that Chuck could go. The doctor stood up and left the office. Chuck leaned backed in his chair. When he felt someone shaking him awake, he realized that he had fallen asleep.

"Chuck?"

He looked up and saw Sarah standing next to him.

"They told me that they're done. So I can take you home now," she said.

Chuck didn't say anything. He was exhausted but he stood up and followed Sarah out of the building. When he got in the car, he leaned back into the seat and closed his eyes as Sarah started the car and drove him home.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The next day, Chuck, Sarah, and Casey sat at the Orange Orange Castle conference table in a video meeting with General Beckman who was filling them in on the latest developments of Fulcrum's island brainwashing facility.

The general explained that they weren't sure how many Fulcrum agents and scientists had escaped. The entire brainwashing lab had been dismantled and all of the technology had been transferred to CIA labs. The CIA, NSA, FBI agents and military personnel who were under the influence of the brainwashing had been helped and all brainwashing had been erased. They were all back to normal just like Chuck and Sarah.

"It's an incredible piece of technology. We still trying to figure it all out," Beckman noted. "We think that they can implant new memories, new pasts into a subject, give them a completely new background and identity or the same identity with different backgrounds and even manipulate the subject's perspective of how much time has passed in that new identity or new background. Hence the two of you believing that you had been married and had a daughter for years while in reality you had been on that island for only weeks."

"What good would that do?" Casey asked. "Exactly how does that help them gain some zombies to do their bidding? Surely if they go back into their normal life with a new identity, friends or family aren't going to be fooled."

"As I said, our scientists are still working on figuring everything out but they believe that implanting new backgrounds and new identities into the subjects was, for the most part, tests to see how the subject reacted and handled the brainwashing. If the subject maintained that new identity in their fake town and wasn't able to resist, then Fulcrum had someone who they could convert over to their side without anyone the wiser. The susceptible subject gets back his original identity and memories along with a Fulcrum conversion. So they truly would have the best undercover agent, an agent who wouldn't even know that he is undercover for Fulcrum. And it worked for the most part." Beckman explained.

"For the most part?" Casey asked.

"Our scientists tell me that what they found and what they could determine from all of the notes and everything, that Fulcrum had a greater than 90 percent success rate in converting people over with this brainwashing. They said that there were a few cases that had reactions or rejections to the brainwashing. Some reactions were violent, some were subtle. Some of those would have these reactions right away or hours or days later. Fulcrum referred to those failures as anomalies, rare cases where the brainwashing just didn't work the way they wanted it to. No one was able to successfully and consistently resist or overcome the brainwashing – until Mr. Bartowski came along," Beckman said.

"Huh?" Chuck said.

"That's correct Mr. Bartowski," Beckman said. "You repeatedly beat the Fulcrum brainwashing and became a constant source of frustration and annoyance for the Fulcrum scientists."

"Well, he does that to us without any brainwashing," Casey noted sarcastically.

Both Sarah and Beckman glared at Casey.

Chuck, who was still surprised at what Beckman said, didn't even hear Casey's comments. "Well … General … as I said before, when we made our report, I don't think it was me that did that. I think it was the Intersect. I think when I flashed on people on the island, the Intersect kind of disrupted the brainwashing. Sometimes it took three or four flashes and other times just one flash, and I think that weakened the brainwashing and enabled me to resist. And believe me, there were plenty of Fulcrum agents on that island to flash on," he said.

Beckman nodded. "Without revealing too much about you and the Intersect to our scientists, we attempted to duplicate your flashing condition in an effort to see what, if any, effect it would have on the brainwashing. And they don't agree with your assessment. Their determination is that the Intersect had little if any effect on the brainwashing."

Both Sarah and Casey looked at Chuck, who said nothing.

Beckman paused. "And there are some other things that our scientists found out." She looked down at some papers before continuing.

"As I said before Mr. Bartowski, your ability to beat the Fulcrum brainwashing constantly astounded and frustrated the Fulcrum scientists. In looking through their notes, we found that only a few subjects successfully beat the brainwashing once and, even more rarely, twice. According to the notes we found, you beat the brainwashing nine times."

Chuck suddenly found his mouth very dry and was unable to speak. Sarah's jaw dropped and her eyes grew wide as she looked at Chuck. Even Casey seemed astounded.

Beckman continued. "And each time they brainwashed you, they increased the potency of it. Our scientists discovered that you were getting extremely powerful levels in the last few treatments. According to the notes they left, no other test subject got as high levels as that. When this technology was in the early stages, when they were experimenting, some subjects got brainwashing treatments almost as high as those levels that you received and none of those subjects survived."

Chuck's jaw dropped. Under the table, Sarah's hand reached over and grasped his hand and held onto it.

"Hence the thorough medical examination that we put you through the other day, Mr. Bartowski. We wanted to make sure that there weren't any adverse effects or reactions in you because of that conversion process. You passed every medical test with flying colors, you were given a clean bill of health. So you beat that brainwashing in every way possible," Beckman said.

"Uhhhh … well … as I said before General, I don't think it was me that did that. I think it was the Intersect. After all, I'm not a trained spy or commando. I don't know what else it could have been," Chuck said.

And then Chuck couldn't believe what happened. The hardened, tough, all military, all commanding General Beckman actually smiled at him. "Have a little faith in yourself Chuck," she said.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The briefing continued for another 30 minutes and when it looked like Beckman was about to end things, she noted to Chuck and Sarah that there was something that they needed to do.

"It turned out that Sallie, the young girl who was brainwashed as your daughter, was the kidnapped child of United States Senator Brendan Stafford. As you know, she has successfully recovered from the brainwashing and is now happily and safely back with her parents. Her parents are very grateful and appreciative of that and want very much to personally express their thanks to you two," Beckman said.

"That's not necessary ma'am. Both Chuck and I were glad to help Sallie. And besides, our identities could be compromised with them as we do a lot of undercover work," Sarah said.

"Noted and agreed. That's why we sent some substitutes in for the parents to thank. But the daughter Sallie, is very fond of the two of you and is looking forward to seeing you both again. When those substitutes went in, Sallie knew right away that they weren't the two who took care of her and saved her and told her parents that. Senator Stafford wants the real couple to visit with him and his family and thank you personally. We have tried to explain to the senator about the secrecy that you two have to maintain but he would have none of it. He is a very influential and powerful senator and I think you do need to visit him," Beckman said.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Later on, Chuck was informed by Casey that Jill was nowhere to be found when the CIA and NSA raided the island. Evidently she had escaped. Chuck gulped a few times when Casey told him the news while they were working at the BuyMore. But his reaction was nowhere near to the level of Sarah's. Casey said that Sarah angrily hurled a few things in the Castle's conference room after she was told about Jill. Then she marched into the workout area where she hit and kicked the punching bag for more than an hour. After that, she immediately went into the Castle's shooting range area and spent a half-hour in there blasting away with her pistol.

"I found several of these in the trash after that," Casey said. He pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and unfolded it to reveal a bullet-ridden blown up photo of Jill's face that Sarah had used for her impromptu target practice.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The visit to Sallie's parents took place a couple of days later. After Chuck and Sarah showed their identifications at the front door of the Stafford home, a man escorted them to a living room where they sat on a couch and waited. During that time, Chuck noticed that Sarah was quiet and that she stared off into space.

"Are you OK?" he asked her.

She acted startled, snapped her head towards Chuck. "What? Oh … yeah … I'm fine … fine." She looked at him as if studying him or checking him for something. She reached over with one hand and picked at some lint on the shoulder of his coat and pushed back a stray lock or two of his hair. And then her hand moved down to his face, stopped at his cheek and lingered. She stared into his eyes and for a moment, Chuck thought he detected a trace of sadness or regret in her eyes.

"Are you OK?" he repeated.

"Yeah," she said as she pulled back her hand but continued to look at him. "It's just …." She stopped and then shook her head.

"What?"

She started to say something and then stopped. Chuck thought that was the end of it but then she spoke.

"Do you ever think about having kids?" she asked.

Of all the things that she could possibly say, that definitely would have never occurred to Chuck. But before he could reply or even think of what to say back, the pair was startled by a loud, high-pitched squeal that erupted from the living room doorway, followed by the clatter of tiny footsteps. And just as Chuck and Sarah turned their heads to the source of that noise, a small, dark-haired girl leapt up onto the couch and tried to hug both of them at the same time.

"CHUCK! SARAH!" she screamed. It was Sallie, happy, enthusiastic and excited. She hopped up and down on the couch, her head darting back and forth between Chuck and Sarah while she excitedly talked nonstop.

"You're here! You're here! I'm so glad to see you! You finally got here! I've missed you! You're here! You're here!"

Neither Chuck nor Sarah could get a word in. Chuck finally put his hands on her shoulders. "Hey, hey, hey," he said softly, trying to calm her down. "It's good to see you too. Hold still a second and let us get a look at you."

Sallie finally stopped for a moment and looked at the two of them. Then she launched herself into Chuck's arms for a hug wrapping her arms around his neck. "I missed you!" she said. Chuck returned the hug and then pulled back. Sallie turned her head, looked at Sarah and leaped into her arms for a hug. "I missed you too!" she said to Sarah.

She looked delighted as she stood between the two of them. Chuck was about to say something when a voice came from the doorway.

"Well, I guess that confirms that you are indeed the real Chuck and Sarah."

Chuck and Sarah looked up. There stood a tall woman, in her thirties with brunette hair, dressed in white blouse, green jacket and green skirt. She looked at how Sallie seemed so happy to be with Chuck and Sarah.

"You would not believe that they actually sent some people to pose as you two, not even realizing that my daughter wouldn't fall for that, that she would instantly know on sight that they weren't really the people who took care of her for all those weeks," said the woman. Then she moved toward them and stopped right in front of Chuck.

"Angela Stafford," she introduced herself and held out her hand.

Chuck stood up. "Charles Carmichael," he replied and shook her hand. He indicated his head toward Sarah who had also stood up. "And this is Sarah Walker," he said.

"Pleased to meet you," Mrs. Stafford said. But she didn't even glance in Sarah's direction as she continued to hold Chuck's hand. "May I call you Chuck?" she said huskily.

"Uhhh … sure … yeah, that's what everybody calls me," Chuck replied. He was suddenly feeling uncomfortable. Mrs. Stafford was still holding onto his hand and she had stepped even closer to him. He looked at Sarah for some help and she had her arms crossed and an icy look on her face. He wasn't sure what to do but then help came from an unexpected source.

"CHUCK!" Sallie yelled.

Chuck looked down at Sallie. "Want to see my room?" she asked.

"Sallie, our visitors came here to—"

"I'd love to see your room Sallie," Chuck quickly replied. He finally freed his hand from Mrs. Stafford's clutches and leaned down to look eye-to-eye with the little girl. Sallie looked thrilled.

"Wouldn't you like to see her room, Sarah?" Chuck asked and looked inquiringly at her.

Sarah still had that icy look on her face but she nodded.

"Very well, let's go see my daughter's room," Mrs. Stafford said. Then she reached down to take Chuck's arm. Chuck quickly held out his arms to Sallie. "Here, I'll carry you Sallie," he said to the little girl. Sallie leapt into his arms and squealed with delight.

He held her up on his left side, the side facing Mrs. Stafford and then put his right arm out toward Sarah, hoping that she would take his arm and help put Mrs. Stafford off. Sarah looked at him with a small smile and looped her left arm through Chuck's arm.

"Lead the way," Chuck said enthusiastically.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

In addition to Sallie's room, Mrs. Stafford gave them a tour of the whole house, a beautiful and large place that looked as if it had the best of everything. It was so much bigger and so much nicer than the house that Chuck and Sarah had lived in with Sallie during the brainwashing episode. Chuck couldn't help but make comparisons. But he also noticed that Sallie acted the same. Small house, small furnishings or large house with lots of furnishings, the girl was the same delightful, loving, wonderful kid.

Throughout the tour, Mrs. Stafford kept eyeing Chuck and talking to him. She rarely acknowledged or even looked at Sarah. All of which was very much noticed by the CIA agent. Brunettes! It's always brunettes! she raged internally.

That rage brought Jill to her mind. Even though the brainwashing had deleted Jill from both hers and Chuck's memories, Jill's presence still caused strong emotions in both of them. Sarah could still recall how worried and concerned she became whenever Jill got near Chuck while they were on that island. Chuck had even admitted that he got nervous whenever Jill was around. Evidently, our subconscious memories were causing all of that, Sarah recalled. She didn't think anything could ever drive Jill from her mind after what that woman did to Chuck at Stanford and after. Yet, it was Jill that saved me, she thought.

Sarah could still vividly remember the argument that she and Chuck had, while he was free of the brainwashing and he tried to get her to leave. After she had calmed down and came out of the bedroom where she had locked herself in intending to talk to Chuck, the first thing she saw was Jill. I got so mad at seeing that bitch there, Sarah thought. And then when she heard Jill saying that she was going to take Chuck away and that Chuck would be hers, something inside Sarah exploded and she attacked Jill. And that enabled me to beat the brainwashing, Sarah thought. That bitch helped me beat it.

Sarah thoughts were interrupted when she saw Angela Stafford trying to move closer to Chuck. Sarah gripped Chuck's arm tighter and pulled him away. She glared at Angela Stafford, the MARRIED Angela Stafford, and wondered how her head would bounce on the floor in this house.

**XXXXXXXXXXXX**

The tour stopped at a room which Senator Brendan Stafford used for an office. The senator was meeting with several people but upon being told who was here, immediately came out to shake Chuck and Sarah's hands and thank them profusely.

"I can't tell you what a relief it was to get our daughter back safe and unharmed. We were so worried, heck, we were frantic and wrecks. We had assumed the worst and thanks to the two of you, we got her back safe and unharmed – not even a scratch. Thank you! Thank you! If there is ever anything I can do for the two of you, just ask," he said.

He talked with them for a while asking about their jobs, what they did, their backgrounds and eventually an aid came up and said that he was needed back in the meeting. The senator nodded and thanked Chuck and Sarah again, shook their hands, and left.

**XXXXXXXXXXXX**

Eventually, they had to leave. Sallie seemed sad to see them go and Chuck and Sarah felt a little sad as well. They hugged her goodbye and then Sallie asked them to wait a minute. She ran off to another room.

"This is for you Chuck and this is for you Sarah," she said when she returned and handed each of them a large sheet of paper.

Chuck looked at the paper Sallie gave him. It was drawing made with Crayons of a house on an island on a sunny day. Next to the house were three stick figures – a tall man with dark hair, a woman with yellow hair, and a young girl with dark hair. Sallie had made a drawing of all of them. Chuck looked at Sarah's drawing. It was of two stick figures, a woman with yellow hair and a young girl with dark hair, on a playground on an island. Sallie had made a drawing of her and Sarah's trips to the playground in the park on the island.

Both Chuck and Sarah crouched down to speak to Sallie at her eye level.

Chuck put his hand on the girl's shoulder. "Thank you. This is wonderful. I like it a lot. And I'm going to hang it up on the wall in my room so that I can see it every day," he said.

"I love my drawing too Sallie. Thank you! I'm going to hang mine up too," Sarah said.

Sallie moved forward and hugged Chuck and Sarah together.

After which, Mrs. Stafford escorted Chuck and Sarah to the door.

"Thank you again for all you did for my daughter. We are so grateful," she said, again looking only at Chuck. She pulled out a card and handed it to him. "If there's ever anything I can do for you, don't hesitate to call me."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Sarah glared at Chuck as they walked toward the car. Chuck pretended not to notice but as usual, whenever Sarah looked at him, it was impossible to ignore. He turned toward her, smiled, and held up the card that Mrs. Stafford had given him. Sarah frowned. Chuck still smiled and then grasped the card with both of his hands and tore it into tiny pieces until the card was a pile of unreadable and illegible scraps in the palm of one hand. And with that, he dumped the pile in a garbage bin that stood at the end of the driveway. He then made a big play of wiping his hands against each other and on his jacket as if dusting and wiping off any remaining traces of Mrs. Stafford as they reached Sarah's car.

Sarah tried to keep a frosty glare on him but found that she couldn't. She smiled and her eyes brightened a bit.

"Good boy," she said.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The next day, Chuck went back to work at the BuyMore Nerd Herd desk and after an hour there, felt like he had never left. It was then that he admitted to himself that things were back to normal, including him and Sarah returning to their usual walking the fine line of their mutual attraction for each other and the handler-asset thing. Chuck had hoped that Sarah would talk to him about their being married on that island and acting like a married couple in all ways. But every time he had tried, Sarah closed up and put up walls.

So I guess EVERYTHING is back to normal, he emphasized to himself. Then a customer came up to the Nerd Herd counter needing help with an iPod and things stayed busy for Chuck the rest of the day.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

When Chuck finally punched out from his shift at the BuyMore, he was exhausted. As soon as he got home, he went to bed and almost immediately fell asleep.

And then sometime later, he opened his eyes. He was still in his bed but something felt different. He looked and in spite of the darkness of the bedroom could easily recognize Sarah sitting beside him. At first he thought he was dreaming and shook his head, shut his eyes and opened them again and again but Sarah was always there. She watched him do all of that and then finally proclaimed to him that she wasn't a dream, that she was really there and she was real.

"Did you sneak in here?" Chuck asked.

Sarah nodded. "Through the Morgan door. You really shouldn't leave that open so much. That is dangerous," she said.

"Is something wrong?" Chuck asked.

Sarah didn't say anything at first. She just stared at Chuck for a long moment. "We need to talk," she finally whispered.

"Well, we do but … this may not be the best … private place for a conversation," Chuck said, hoping that she would get his meaning without him having to say it outright.

"What? Oh. Don't worry about the bugs. Casey had to go out of town, so he's not in his apartment. I went in there and disabled the monitoring equipment for the evening before I came in here. And just in case I missed something …." She pointed at the small table near the head of his bed. Chuck looked and saw some sort of mechanical device.

"If I missed any bugs, that will jam them, prevent anyone from listening or looking in," she explained. "So for tonight, it's just you and me – really just you and me."

She then looked down at him and started to say something but stopped.

Chuck stared at her emotionless face and then spoke up.

"Sarah, it's OK. I know what you're going to say and you don't have to say it," he said with a sigh. "You're going to say that what happened was mistake, a mistake that you're going to ensure never happens again and as far as you're concerned, it didn't even happen, it never happened. And that we need to--"

"No, no, NO," Sarah interrupted. She grasped his chin with one hand and turned his head towards hers. She looked directly into his eyes and Chuck could see that tough, strong, powerful Sarah Walker looking very tenderly, lovingly, and kindly at him.

"Chuck, it did happen and I'm glad it happened," she said softly. She held his gaze when she said those words and didn't flinch or blink.

"I'm glad it did too," Chuck replied. "I enjoyed being married to you."

"A part of me wishes that we still were," she replied.

Chuck almost gasped. Did she really say that? he wondered.

The hand that held his chin moved down to his shoulder. Her other hand reached over and grasped his other shoulder. Chuck immediately put his arms around her neck, pulled her down to him and they kissed. They kept kissing and their passion increased. Chuck could hear Sarah softly moaning as she moved one hand up to the back of his head where she stroked his hair. He moved one hand down her back and drew her in closer, tighter. After another long and lengthy kiss, the two broke apart, breathing heavily.

Sarah moved her hands to front of his chest. "Chuck, that one time we made love … on our anniversary … you tried to stop me and … you were yourself that time, weren't you?"

He hesitated. But there was no denying it and no way around it. "Yes, I wasn't brainwashed then. I was clear-headed then and … well, I wasn't very clear headed … it was really hard to concentrate and resist you, you … well … I tried, I tried Sarah … I'm really, really sorry. I shouldn't have done that."

Sarah once again grasped his chin with her hand and directed him to look at her. "It's all right Chuck. I know you tried. But you didn't do anything wrong. I wanted you and I loved it, I really did. The reason I was asking is that I just wanted to know if there was ever any time on that island where we made love and we both weren't brainwashed. I wanted to know that because …."

She stopped talking and then moved off of the bed and stood on the floor. She removed all of her clothes and once nude, she got into the bed, under the covers with Chuck. "Because I want to make love to you now and it be totally, completely the real you and me – no brainwashing, no excuses, just you and me," she said as she removed his T-shirt and underwear.

She kissed him and their hands moved quickly onto each other, touching, feeling, and stroking. And they didn't stop for a long time.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Afterwards, they lay under the covers, naked, and in each other's arms.

"There's a part of me that wishes that could have been real, that what we had on that island during the brainwashing had been real," Chuck said to her.

"I know you do, because you had that normal life that you want so bad," she replied.

"No, it wasn't that, it had nothing to do with that life being normal…or appearing to be normal. It was wonderful because I had a life WITH YOU. It was so great because I was with you. I'll trade normal any time just to be with you."

Sarah reached over to him with one hand and playfully stroked his hair. "I know. I understand." She paused for a moment and then she looked him directly in the eye. "Chuck, no matter what happens, I want you to know that I love you and I will always love you."

"I love you too Sarah. But what do you mean no matter what happens?"

"I don't know what will happen to us, what they'll do if they find out about you and me. It could …." Sarah stopped, not wanting to say anything more.

Chuck sat up and then pulled her up to a sitting position beside him in the bed. "Take a look at that shelf. See those three action figures on it?" he asked as he pointed at the toys.

Sarah looked and did see the three super-hero figure toys but gave Chuck a puzzled look as she had no idea how this had anything to do with what they were talking about.

"Those are three really rare, valuable, and expensive action figures. Back when I was about 17, 18, I really, really wanted those – as did everybody. They were the hottest action figures back then and selling out fast."

He pointed at the first one, the one on the left. "That one was given to me by Ellie for my birthday. I unwrapped one of the presents she gave me that day and there it was. She got it for me."

He pointed at the second one, the one in the middle. "To get that one, I drove all around one Saturday afternoon, stopping and shopping at every comic book shop, toy store, mall, department store. I drove for hours and miles. It took all day, but I finally found one buried behind a bunch of other action figures on a store shelf."

Then he pointed at the third one, the one on the right. "With two down and just one to go, I wasn't about to give up. I called comic book stores all over the country asking if they had one in stock. Finally, I reached a shop in Florida who had one left. The guy on the phone said he wanted it for himself. But I persuaded him to sell it and ship it to me. And then I had them all."

He smiled at Sarah, who still looked puzzled about what he had just told her. "Hang on, there's a point to all of this. And it's this Sarah. Sometimes the things that you want most in life come to you on their own, without you doing anything -- like the action figure that I got for my birthday. And sometimes you have to work very, very hard to get the things you want in life, like the action figure that I drove all over for. And then sometimes, you have to fight to get the things you want in life, like the action figure that I had to persuade that guy to sell to me."

He hugged Sarah. "A relationship is like that Sarah. Some things happen on their own, some things you have to work for and some things you have to fight for. If we really, really want to be together, then some things will happen on their own, some things we'll have to work for and some things we'll have to fight for. I consider you worth all of that and much more. And I hope you consider me the same."

Sarah wrapped her arms around Chuck and drew him in tight. How did this happen? she thought. How did a top-rated, hardened, world experienced CIA agent and assassin fall completely, totally, absolutely head-over-heels in love with a computer nerd? How did this computer nerd turn out to be the most wonderful, wise, fulfilling, loving, compassionate and perfect man for me?

"Of course I consider you worth all of that and a lot, lot, lot more," she said softly. "I'm in this all the way Chuck. How about you?"

"All the way, Sarah, all the way."

"Well …." she said. And then before Chuck knew what happened, he found himself rolled over onto his back with Sarah on top of him and pinning down his hands above his head. She leaned her face down very close to his and seductively said, "Then let's get to work!" And then she kissed him. And as they kissed, Chuck's eye strayed to the drawing hanging nearby on the wall, the drawing of him, Sarah, and Sallie as a family that Sallie had drawn and given to him. And his heart was filled with hope and love.

**THE END**

-

**A NOTE ABOUT WHAT TV SERIES INSPIRED THIS STORY:** The classic TV series that gave me the idea for this story is called "The Prisoner." It first aired way back in the late 1960s and since then has been shown various times in syndication. The series was created by and starred that great actor Patrick McGoohan (who unfortunately died recently; he will be missed). McGoohan played a secret agent who resigned from his post and then tried to go on leave. Before he could, he was rendered unconscious and when he woke up, he found himself in a mysterious place known only as "The Village" where all of the residents there referred to him as "Number Six." The Village seemed to be a very nice place but there was no way to leave or make any contact with the outside world. Number Six battled to find out what was going on and to escape. While my story isn't exactly like "The Prisoner," the series definitely inspired me to write "Chuck Vs. The Good, Normal and Wonderful Life." And I couldn't resist putting in references to that series in my story. Lines like "Be seeing you!" and "By hook or by crook, we will" are from "The Prisoner." Plus Chuck and Sarah's home address on the island was #6 McGoohan Drive and the name of the island was where "The Prisoner" TV series was actually filmed. And practically every Fulcrum agent or villain's name is the name of a director, writer or production person from the show. If you've never seen this classic TV series, go rent it. It's available on DVD. The first episode is titled "Arrival." Check it out and watch out for the Rovers!


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